National Ploughing Championships 2026

SME’s are the backbone of many local communities in Ireland. They provide jobs, income, and services to people living across Ireland. When businesses succeed, it helps to keep communities vibrant and alive and that is why we as a network of Local Enterprise Offices showcase them at an exhibition called “The Local Enterprise Village” The initiative of the Local Enterprise Offices (LEOs) sees 31 small businesses, one from each LEO, take a stand in the Local Enterprise Village in the heart of the Ploughing Championships, opening their businesses up to almost 250,000 prospective customers across the 3 days of the event.

The Local Enterprise Village aim is to highlight the thriving small business ecosystem around Ireland that we in the Local Enterprise Offices are proud to support across our network of offices. The Local Enterprise Village is just a snapshot of Ireland’s small business owners, those entrepreneurs who had a great idea and with the support of their Local Enterprise Office, made that small idea into great business.

LEO Galway will be represented by Woolow, an bedding brand that creates premium pillows, duvets, and bedding filled with 100% Natural Wool.

As a young boy, Michael Burke learned the value of the land and its produce from his hands-on work assisting his father with the sheep and cattle on the farm at Dunblaney House. His family lived on the land and farmed it as families have done for generations and it was through this that his passion for the benefits of the land started to bloom.

With time, thanks to an ever-growing interest in shearing, Michael began training with the manual shears. As a reward for his hard work and what would prove to sew the seeds of a future venture, his father gifted him with a wool pillow, made from the wool of their own sheep, that they had sheared with their own hands.

This pillow served as a daily reminder of his fond memories working on the farm as he slept soundly on it night after night.

To further support his life of learning on the farm, Michael went to study agricultural science and graduated in analytical chemistry. He wondered how it was that he could marry what his work was now to what it used to be on the farm, the place where his passion had begun.

Returning to the farm at Dunblaney House, Michael converted it to organic production and in his own words, “…had the desire to implement the wool in a way that could fulfill the needs of others… it was wonderful that something I had had an interest in since childhood and something that I live and work with could provide such a solution.”

Using the wool from his own sheep, Michael began making wool pillows, just as his father had done for him as a child.

So, using natural wool, and a 300 thread cotton casing, the pillow is wonderfully breathable, keeping you cool in summer and warm in winter. Wool is clinically proven to prevent germs and allergens, making it a must-have for those with hay-fever or dust allergies.

Visit https://woolow.com/