MANY congratulations to Galway couple Joe Burke and Grace McDonagh who recently got engaged. Joe, a well-known exhibitor in the Connemara Pony world, popped the question during a weekend in Clifden.

“Nothing set in stone yet anyway for a wedding date. It certainly won’t be in the middle of show season as we’re all eager to get back to showing again,” said Joe, who works for the Pieta House charity.

The couple met at his previous workplace Olympic Saddlery where Grace, who works at Medtronic in Galway City, was a regular customer. “That must be almost seven years ago. We couldn’t go into town to celebrate the engagement so we had a marquee in the yard last weekend to celebrate with our own crew. All the stallions are out for the night so it was empty stables and a full marquee,” he added about their scaled-back engagement party last Friday night at the family’s Cloonisle Stud.