Ireland March 2025

IRELAND REGION REPORT

Regional Contact member – Matthew Kehoe

I hope all of your lambing seasons are like my spring report, short and sweet. We’re in the midst of our first repeat ewes here at the moment which are a little later than usual on account of an infertile ram that was a few weeks on the job before his lack of lustre was detected. An unfortunate side effect of single sire mating, as is often the case in pedigree and rare breed flocks, is that without fertility testing by a veterinarian we leave ourselves open to losing weeks of the breeding season before we notice a problem. Without the use of coloured raddles the problem may not have been noticed until scanning time by which time it would be almost too late to remedy. While we have fertility tested rams on occasion before it has not been something that we have done regimentally, this is to change. For the benefit of our own flock, and our ram customers we have decided to fertility test all of our rams prior to the breeding and sale season for added peace of mind. It might be something to consider for your own flock later in the summer before the cycle starts all over again.

Across the region I see the WhatsApp group, Facebook pages and websites begin to fill with photographs of new born lambs and their carefully minded dams. It is now we begin to see the fruits of careful selections and pairings, wise purchases and good stockmanship over the winter period. There is a certain excitement associated with this kind of work that is like no other, bringing life into the world in one moment and then speculating on that animal’s future in the next, always wanting for that perfect Jacob. Some fall at the first hurdle, black faces, white ears and black legs…while others inspire hope and aspirations for the summer shows and sales. Every year those special few become readily apparent from an early stage, often disappearing again for weeks as they grow in all directions before finally returning at weaning to their original qualities that were first hinted at in the lambing shed.

I’d like to wish you all a successful lambing over the coming weeks and remind you all to try to take care of yourselves during this exhausting period. If this spring is anything like last year we will have a challenging few months ahead but here’s hoping for a mild spring, I think we deserve it after last year. Should we face another wet March and April let’s remember that the summer will come, the shed will empty and the long wet season will be a lost memory.

In more local news it’s worth mentioning our events that took place in the region between October and December. October saw the region flock to the Glenpark Estate for our annual general meeting and dinner where we reflected on a successful year and made plans for an even better one. A highlight of the evening during the interim between the AGM and dinner saw Derek Brown on behalf of our judge, James Leonard (Grove flock, Wales), announce the winners of the 2024 Ireland region flock competition. A massive thank you again to James for taking the time to travel all over the island in search of his winners. Full results listed below.

In late November we saw a modest entry of Jacob females at the Rare & Minority Breed Sale held in Cahir mart. It was encouraging to see a Jacob ewe lamb from Cathal Walsh’s Donadea flock take home first in its class before going on to take home the overall champion rosette for the breed with a smart Wensleydale ewe in reserve. A joint top price for the Jacob ewe lambs of €200 was secured by both the Donadea and Greenstar flocks. A top price of €270 was secured by the Hughes flock for the first place Jacob ewe.

Early December seen us return to the outskirts of Omagh for the Northern Ireland In-lamb and ewe lamb sale where our judge, Mr. Joseph Hughes, had three female classes to deliberate over. First place in the aged ewe class went to a Beltrim ewe by Sainfield Simba exhibited by Adrian Hamilton. Second place in the aged ewe class went to a Pard House Major sired ewe from the Colhoun family’s Kingarrow flock. Going on to top the trade at £660 guineas this ewe went across the water to George Fell. We look forward to welcoming George over again next year as he has kindly agreed to judge the 2025 In-lamb sale. Leading the shearling ewes in both the show and sales rings was an Eglish Dallas sired Rivendell shearling from Raymond & Jayne McCauley. This animal was tapped forward as the overall champion on the night and went on to sell for £580 guineas. Topping the ewe lamb trade at £560 guineas was the first place ewe lamb and reserve champion, a Kingarrow Colby sired ewe lamb from the Colhoun family’s Kingarrow flock.

Raymond and Jayne McCauley’s shearling ewe, champion at the unofficial in-lamb sale with the judge, Joseph Hughes

Finally a message to judges in all regions. We are always looking for Jacob judges from GB to travel over to shows all over the island of Ireland during the summer months. If you’re a panel or provisional judge and fancy a real challenge and a trip across the water please contact the Field Officer or me if you could spare a summer weekend.   Please note any travel or accommodation expenses should be arranged with the show beforehand.

A few key dates for the Jacob sheep calendar in Ireland are as follows:

RUAS Balmoral Show 14^th – 17^th May

Omagh Show 5^th July (Jacob National Show – Northern Ireland)

Clonmel Show 6^th July (Jacob National Show – Southern Ireland)

Tullamore Show 10^th August

Southern Ireland Show & Sale in Tullamore Mart 26^th July

Northern Ireland Show & Sale in Beattie’s Pedigree Centre 15^th August

The Beatty family, Tirelugan flock, winners of the large flock category

Lambing at the Fletcher family’s flock in Southern Ireland

A dramatic sunset over part of Trevor Kane’s Ballyworkan flock in Portadown