That'll make a lot of soup!
There was plenty of pumpkin rivalry in Collon on Sunday as cousins Patrick Sullivan and Micheal Byrne battled it out for the title of Ireland's heaviest pumpkin.
Micheal, who holds the Irish record, not only made it over the 1,000lbs milestone mark with two of his Atlantic Giant pumpkins- but also set a new Irish record.
His heaviest pumpkin weighed in at an astonishing 529 kgs or 1,166lbs, while his next heaviest was 469kgs or 1033lb, both breaking his previous record of 936lbs set in 2011. Patrick set a new personal best of 917lbs and was delighted with his performance as he expected the pumpkin to be around 700lbs.
The friendly pumpkin rivalry goes back a long way since Patrick, from Collon, and Micheal, from Togher, Co Louth were kids.
Patrick Sullivan with his giant pumpkin
'It started when we were around six or seven. My grandfather Sean Douglas ran Douglas Nurseries in Ardee and to encourage us to get involved in horticulture he got us to grow standard sized pumpkins. We would meet at Hallowe'en to inspect the size of the pumpkins and win a fiver off grandad.
'About 10 years ago I stumbled across a new variety - Dills Atlantic Giant which grow from 200lbs to 2,000lbs. So we sent off to Canada for the seeds,'explained Patrick.
While Patrick and Micheal may have been in a league of their own in the Atlantic Giant Class, entries were also invited for the field pumpkin class for standard sized pumpkins. Daireen Cafferty from Greystones won this competition with her 35.5kgs field pumpkin, while second place went to the children of St Oliver's Primary School, Navan, for their pumpkin weighing 19kgs. Third place went to Patrick Sullivan and fourth prize was won by the children's garden at Teach Raithneach, Starinagh with their pumpkin of 17.5kgs.
Weighing the pumpkins
'This is the inaugural event and we will be holding it again next year. We welcome any contenders. Anyone intersted in getting involved can get in contact by emailing giantpumpkinsireland@gmail.com' Now that the competition is over, Micheal's giant pumpkins will be on display in a number of Tesco stores.