For the past 80 years, Macra has provided a place for young people in rural Ireland to come together and form connections. What we never expected was just how many of those connections would be romantic. In honour of Valentine’s Day, we’ve asked some of our members to tell their love stories.
Alannah and Ryan
Alannah Finnegan from 3 Province Macra in Cavan and Ryan McMahon from Castleblayney Macra in Monaghan first met at a club officer training in January 2023.
A week later they met again at Northwest Kings and Queens, where Ryan represented Monaghan. His rendition of Big Tom on stage was said to have won Alannah over (in her own words).
Further meetings at Impromptu public speaking, election hustings and the Mr Personality Festival in Clonmel had sparks flying for the couple, and they started going out in May 2023.
Alannah and Ryan are both very involved with their Macra communities at club and county level and attend Macra events together throughout the country, including the Blue Queens Country Queen Festival in 2024, where Alannah took home the crown!
Áine and Billy
Billy and Áine met in Macra when Áine joined the local Macra club, Killeagh, where Billy was already a member, in 2011.
What started out as friendship changed at second phase training in Killarney in January 2016 after a couple of rounds of pints.
After four years the couple got engaged on Christmas Eve 2020, during the COVID lockdown, when Billy decorated one of the sheds in Christmas lights and got down on one knee in true suckler farmer style with one of their show pedigree Hereford cows beside him.
The couple got married in August 2022 and welcomed their first child, their daughter Róisín, in March of last year.
Caoimhe and Séamus
Caoimhe and Séamus met for the first time at Queen of the Land in November 2023.
They were both Monaghan Macra members, heading down to support Eilis Quinn who was representing Monaghan that year. They spent most of the night talking to only each other, and that was the start of it.
Between work, college and farming it can be hard for this couple to find any free time to spend together.
It means that a visit to see each other usually means getting a job of milking too, feeding calves or sitting on the passenger seat of the tractor.
It’s a good thing they’re both into farming. They’ve spent hours together at silage, sorting cattle and even in the bog, among many other things, and haven’t fallen out yet.
Jackie and James
James and Jackie’s paths first crossed in 1995.
James was in Kilkenny supporting the Camolin public speaking team, while Jackie was competing on the opposing side.
James decided he liked the look of Jackie, and thought to himself, “I must chat her up sometime.”
When Jackie got up to speak, she spotted a tall, good-looking redheaded guy at the back of the hall and thought “I wouldn’t mind getting to know him”.
Four years later James finally said “hello” and they’ve been together ever since.
These days James and Jackie relive their Macra memories with their daughters, Mary and Sarah, who are both Macra members, and no strangers to bringing home the win in debating and public speaking competitions.