WHEN the Corrigan family opened their gates to Eventing Ireland almost a decade ago, the prospect of staging a full international fixture had probably never crossed their minds. Ten years on however, the venue has mushroomed in stature, and having hosted the National Championships for the past two years, this was a natural progression.

In this, its first year, the event attracted a host of Olympic riders from overseas, and while the weather could certainly have been kinder, it did nothing to diminish either the success of the fixture or the overwhelming feelgood factor that surrounded it. To host eventing on their family farm at Lisgarvan had always been the dream for the late Dorcas Corrigan, and while she so capably steered the fixture through its early years, she would have been immensely proud of what her family have accomplished.

In a fitting tribute to Dorcas, for whom she rode, Sarah Ennis reflected: “Dorcas was an amazing woman, and would be so very proud of them all. They did an extraordinary job, and to run this, their first international from zero was a great achievement.”

While the extended Corrigan family had pulled out all the stops to ensure this success, they were hugely aided by Paul and Allen Brady, the designers and stalwarts behind the sadly missed international at Camphire. “It really couldn’t have gone better,” said Paul Brady. “It was a great weekend of sport and while the venue always had the potential, it lived up to everything we knew it could deliver.”

Centred around a huge, railed main arena, the infrastructure focused on being user friendly – and it worked. The attention to detail was noticeable at every turn, and especially the going which was described by Olympic gold medallist Laura Collett as “the best I’ve ridden on all year.”

“Looking forward, we can now work on refining and putting the icing on the cake,” said Brady, before adding how none of the event’s undoubted success would have been possible without so many people pulling together.

Focusing on the sporting action, and in racing parlance, it would have been a bad weekend for the bookies. As hot favourites, British riders Laura Collett and Kirsty Chabert landed the major classes, there were also rewarding victories for Ireland’s Clare Abbott (CCI3*-S), Dominic Furnell (CCI2*-S) and Heidi Hamilton (CCI*-Intro).