IRELAND REGION
Regional Contact Member – Matthew Kehoe
As I reflect on a fantastic summer and autumn for our region I am left wondering if it
stopped raining at all. It feels like the rain started after the regional open day in June
and has yet to stop…and now winter has already arrived. Nonetheless our hardy breed and equally tough breeders braved the summer agricultural shows well into September with only a handful of us getting stuck with Jeeps and trailers on the field.
The Colhoun family’s shearling ewe, champion at Clogher Valley Show, with the judge, Matthew Kehoe
Our 2023 Ireland Region Show Competition was as always divided into sections,
Northern Ireland and Southern Ireland, as sheep cannot be shown across the border to compete against each other. Exhibitors are awarded points for attendance and successes in the show ring at their best six shows throughout the year. Points are awarded for six eligible classes in the Northern Ireland section and four eligible classes in the Southern Ireland section. Our 2023 winners in the Northern Ireland section are the Colhoun family in 1st place with 540 points, Adam Parker in 2nd with 330 points, and Adrian Hamilton in 3rd place with 205 points. In the Southern Ireland section Matthew Kehoe took 1st place with 530 points, the Harney family in 2nd place with
365 points and Joseph Hughes in 3rd place with 150 points. Prizes will be awarded at the Ireland Region AGM in October. Congratulations to our winners and thank you to everyone who took time to organize, judge and exhibit at our agricultural shows over the summer.
Our two official show and sales in the region held in early August were our most successful to date with record prices for the region smashed twice within minutes. Full sale reports by Howard Walsh are in this Journal. Thank you to everyone involved who worked tirelessly on the day and in the run up to the sales to see them prove successful.
The 2nd of September saw a small entry of pedigree Jacob sheep go under the
hammer at the Multibreed Ewe & Ram sale at Blessington Mart. A top price of €250 was paid by Jake and David Darker for a shearling ewe from Matthew Kehoe.
For the first time in a few years our breed returned to the National Ploughing
Championships where we had a three day stand in the NSBA sheep poly tunnel. We were met with a great response from the general public with all the usual questions about wool, horns and their purported likeness to goats – thank you to the dedicated group of members who manned the stand, engaged with the public and looked after the pair of ewe lambs for the week, with a special thanks to Joseph Hughes who took the time to build and dismantle the stand.
The Jacob sheep stand at the National Ploughing Championships attracted a lot of interest
On the 7th of October we held our Trimming and Young Handlers Workshop alongside our first ever ewe lamb show and sale. Scott Dalrymple, Melanie Harper Stephanie Crozier kindly travelled over from Scotland to lend a hand. Scott led a trimming demonstration for all, answering questions as he worked while members practised on a number of ewes on neighbouring trimming stands kindly provided by attendees. Melanie and Stephanie ran our young handlers workshop where young breeders learnt about the finer points of picking a show animal and how to show it to
best advantage in the ring. This was followed by our young handers primary and secondary school classes where Melanie had the tough job of judging some fantastic young stock people and their sheep. In the pre-show ewe lamb classes Scott Dalrymple tapped forward Adrian Hamilton’s ewe lamb into first place that went on to top the sale at £300 guineas. A bid of £280 guineas was secured by our auctioneer Richard Beattie for the second place ewe lamb from the Colhoun family. £250 bought the third place ewe lamb from Ann Moore.
Scott Dalrymple at work at the Trimming Workshop
Upcoming events for the region over the coming months include the following: Ireland Region AGM to be held in the Shearwater Hotel, Ballinasloe, Co. Galway on
Saturday 21st of October. Southern Ireland In-lamb and ewe lamb sale to be held in GVM Tullamore Mart on Saturday 25th of November in conjunction with the Rare Minority Breed Sale.
Northern Ireland In-lamb and ewe lamb sale to be held in Beattie’s Pedigree Centre
on Friday15th of December.
Jonathan Breen and his children at the Trimming Workshop and Young Handlers Day
Prize winners in the ewe lamb class at the Trimming Working Day (L to R) Ady Hamilton, Paul Colhoun and Ann Moore