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sport · Wednesday 26 August 2026 · Various 
Irish National Sheepdog Trials and Family Fun Day
At Stuart Hall Estate · 280 Mountjoy Road, Stewartstown, Co. Tyrone, BT71 5LG
At Stuart Hall Estate · 280 Mountjoy Road, Stewartstown, Co. Tyrone, BT71 5LG
The Irish National Sheepdog Trials come to Stuart Hall Estate outside Stewartstown for four days from Wednesday 26 to Saturday 29 August 2026. This is the national qualifier: the country’s top handlers and their dogs compete across the week for places on the Irish National Team, so the standard on the field is as high as it gets on this island. The doubles competition opens proceedings on the Wednesday afternoon, singles run from Thursday through to Saturday morning, and the champion is crowned on Saturday afternoon.
Saturday doubles as a family fun day from 10am to 4pm, running alongside the closing trials. That side of the event includes a craft and fine food fair, a vintage car and tractor fair and a kids’ zone, with the family activities raising money for Mencap NI. The trials themselves are run by the International Sheep Dog Society in association with Nugent Trailers. Bring boots and outdoor clothing: this is a working estate field, not a showground with hard standing.
Stuart Hall Estate is on the Mountjoy Road just outside Stewartstown in east Tyrone, between Cookstown and Coalisland. The nearest motorway access is junction 15 of the M1 at Dungannon, about 10 miles away, with Cookstown roughly 7 miles to the north west and Belfast around 45 miles east. There is on-site parking in the estate grounds for the duration of the trials. Public transport is limited in this part of the county, with only occasional Ulsterbus services through Stewartstown village, so almost everyone attending travels by car.
Heading to Stuart Hall Estate in Stewartstown? Tyrone has plenty more to see. Read the Stewartstown area guide, find what else is on, and explore the towns and villages nearby.