The Connollys Redmills All Ireland Suffolk Championships took place at Teagasc, Athenry on Saturday June 21st 2025
Supreme Champion of Show, Shearling Ewe from Clyda Flock
As the sun delivered its glow over a packed June show ring, it was the tremendous Clyda gimmer from Susan O’Keeffe who judge, Lesley Liggett tapped as his Supreme Champion. A ram lamb from the Mullinvale flock of Darragh McMenamin took the Reserve Champion rosette.
The Supreme Champion continues her family tradition of success, being from the famous L30 line in the Clyda flock. She is sired by Ballinatone BT Buddy and out of a Castleisle Kilteskin Prince dam who is also maternal sister to Clyda President. This line breeds success having won 4 Female of the Year titles and Supreme Championships at the National Championships for the Clyda flock and 2 Supreme Championships at the Society’s Premier Show & Sale.
Darragh McMenamin’s ram lamb Mullinvale Dazzler came out on top in the open ram lamb class and ultimately was awarded Reserve Overall Champion. This powerful lamb is by the £40,000 Frongoy Flamboyant with his dam being a Glenroe ewe by Limestone Red Rum.
Reserve Champion of Show, Mullinvale Dazzler
Judging kicked off under a blazing sunshine with a large entry of just under 150 sheep entered into 9 classes in total. A large crowd was present as judge Lesley Liggett, Carony, commenced his task.
First up was the Shearling Ram and upwards class which was won by James O’Connell, Knockogan, with Finnvale Bugatti. A son of Salopian Pure Gold, he was purchased at Blessington 2023 for 2,000gns. P.J. McMonagle, Aughnakeeragh, took second place with his stock ram Ballynacannon Cut Above, sired by the 16,000gns Rempstone Rassie.
The Aged ewe class was dominated by the Clyda flock of Susan O’Keeffe, taking first and second places. In 1st place was a homebred ewe by the 10,000gns Blackbrae AB President and a powerful Cairness ewe. This ewe went on to be Reserve Female Champion. Her maternal sister was placed 2nd in the same class. This particular ewe is by Castleisle Kilteskin Prince and has had a stellar show career herself. She has won Female of the Year and Supreme Champion in 2022 and 2023. She is also dam of the £5,000 ram lamb sold at Ballymena 2024.
The Shearling ewe class saw a huge entry and was won by the outstanding Clyda gimmer who went on to become the Supreme Champion and Female of the Year. Taking second place honours in this class was Charlie Bourke, Connview. This ewe is by Claycrop Classy Boy and an Oakbridge ewe by Solwaybank King William.
The New Breeders class saw a large entry and is open to breeders who have been members of the Society for 3 years or less. Dominating this class was Charlie Bourke taking first and second place with lambs by Limestone Double Diamond and his Oakbridge ewe. Mayo Healthcare were kind sponsors of this class.
The Novice ram lamb class was won by Barney Carroll, Cregmore. This lamb is by Limestone Bugatti and a Kirriemuir ewe. A much admired lamb, he went through to the Open ram lamb class and took second place, ultimately claiming Reserve Male Champion behind Mullinvale Dazzler. Shane Brady’s Milldam flock took second place in this class with a strong ram by Finnvale Bazooka and a Milldam ewe.
Novice Champion and Reserve Male Champion – Cregmore Flock
In the Novice ewe lamb class, Charlie Bourke took 1st place with a stylish lamb by Limestone Double Diamond with her dam being an Oakbridge ewe by Solwaybank King William. Second place in this class was taken by the same flock with a sister of the 1st prize winner.
Novice Ewe Lamb Champion, Connview Flock
The Trimmed ewe lamb class was won by John A Doherty, Malinhead. This strong lamb is by Crewelands Dancing Brave and a Limestone Red Rum dam. She is a sister to Malinhead Canonball and the ewe lamb that was Reserve Champion at the 2023 Championships. In second place was Philip Lynch’s ewe lamb by Shannagh Bossman and a Ballinatone BT Buddy ewe.
Champion Trimmed Ewe Lamb, Malinhead Flock
The Untrimmed ewe lamb class was won by Charlie Bourke’s ewe lamb from the Novice class. In second place was Malinhead, with a ewe lamb by Duncan’s Cantona and a ewe by Crewelands Dancing Brave. Her dam is a sister to the 1st prize trimmed ewe lamb.
There were two Young Handlers classes this year with both keenly contested. First up was the Under 13 class which was won by Bobby Thompson from the Ballinatone stable. James Molloy from the flock of the same name was in second place. Thomas Duffy of Kells was awarded 3rd place.
In the Under 16 class, it was Paddy McMonagle of Beltanyview who came out on top. In second place was Ben Whyte of Keenoge Suffolks with Daniel Grady of Demense Suffolks awarded 3rd place.
U13 Young HandlersU16 Young Handlers
The South of Ireland Suffolk Society would like to commend Teagasc on their hosting of a fantastic Sheep 2025 event. We would like to extend special thanks to our sponsor Connolly’s Redmills for their continued support of our Society. We wish to thank all who helped toward making the event the success it was and wish all members the best of luck in the remainder of the show and sales season.
The South of Ireland Premier Show & Sale took place on August 4th & 5th in Blessington Mart
The 137th Annual Show & Sale of the Suffolk Sheep Society South of Ireland took place in Blessington Mart on Saturday August 5th where auctioneer Mr John Doyle described trade as ‘a very strong trade with exceptional demand from Commercial Breeders. Breeding rams were of excellent quality with stock presented on the day up on 2022’
Judging got underway on Friday afternoon under the experienced eye of Judge, Mr Alastair Barclay of the renowned Blackbrae Flock in Northern Ireland while Commercial breeders Michael & Ger Murphy were on hand to step in to judge the Gigot Ram class.
In a Championship of exceptional quality, the judge tapped out a superb ram lamb from the Annakisha flock of Arthur and Patrick O’Keefe. He was sired by the Reserve Champion from the NI Premier in 2022 Blackbrae AB President out of an Annakisha ewe. This stylish lamb had previously won the Open Ram Class and the Male Championship before claiming the title of Supreme Champion. 2023 has proved to be a very successful year for this lamb as he had previously won the Champion Ram Lamb spot at the National Suffolk Championships in Gurteen in June. The quality of this lamb came to the fore when he was eventually knocked down under John Doyle’s hammer for €20.000 and sold to the Cairness Flock of Jimmy Douglas in Scotland.
Taking Reserve Champion was Andrew & Jonathan Lucas’s lamb from the Finnvale Flock. Their lamb Finnvale BFG had been sired by last year’s Champion , Finnvale Am the Man whom they had retained. The ram had won the Best lamb sired by a South of Ireland Ram earlier in the day before claiming Reserve Male and Reserve Champion of the Show. He went on to sell in the ring to the Burnview Flock of William & Stephanie Tait, Northern Ireland for €2600 while the Finnvale pen overall, averaged €1695 with Am the Man lambs selling to an average of €2067.
Reserve champion of the Show – Andrew & Jonathan Lucas, Finnvale Flock
A Cairnton Chaos sired lamb out of a Solwaybank Ewe, owned by Alan Kilpatrick of the Convoy flock in Donegal claimed the second highest price of the day for a strong, stylish lamb which also found a home in Northern Ireland. Other top prices on the day included a Crewelands Dancing Brave ET lamb from the pen of JJ & Martin Doherty, Malinhead. This was a SIS eligible lamb which sold to a fellow South of Ireland Breeder for €2300. Also selling well on the day was another of the Doherty’s lambs which had placed 1st in the Pen of Three Class and was knocked down at €2100.
The winner of the Novice class was a very correct lamb from the Cronebane pen of local man, Gus Doyle. He had beaten off stiff competition from PJ McMonagle’s Forkins Masterplan lamb which sold at €2200. This Novice winner, sired by Donbraid Assassin went on to sell to a Donegal pedigree breeder also for €2200. There were a number of other lambs sold at the €2200 mark which included a Kells T-rex sired lamb from the Ballygarris pen of Michael & Marie Jennings in Mayo and two rams from the Finnvale pen sired by Salopian Pure Gold and Finnvale Am the Man.
Novice Champion from Gus Doyle’s Cronebane Flock
The Shearling Ram class was won by Philip Byrne of the Limepark Flock with his Muirton One Direction Ram which later went on to sell to a commercial buyer for €900.
The Female classes commenced with the Shearling Ewe Class, which saw local breeder John & Esther Gahan claim the top spot with a stylish Lakeview Del Boy sired Gimmer. She had fought off stiff competition from two Cairness Our Bucks sired gimmers from the Lismurtagh and Loughrynn Flocks who had been placed 2nd and 3rd respectively. While these two females remained unsold the Champion Shearling was knocked down at €1200 in the ring to another breeder.
Champion Shearling Ewe from John & Esther Gahan, Barronstown Flock
The ewe lamb class was a very stylish affair and was tightly contended. Taking top honours from the judge was the Mountford flock of Oliver and Adrienne Deane’s January born lamb, sired by Ballinatone Al Capone from a Mountford Ewe. This breedy lamb was eventually sold to a Pedigree Breeder in the West. Placed 2nd in her class, Philip Lynch’s Clyda Awesome bred lamb sold for €820 while the 3rd placed, January born lamb from the Milldam Flock of Shane Brady and sired by Cairnton Chaos also sold for €820.
In the final lineup in the Female Championship, it was the Mountford Ewe Lamb which proved to be the judge’s favourite as she claimed the top honours as Female Champion with Philip Lynch’s Glyde Ewe Lamb claiming the Reserve Female Champion spot.
Champion Ewe Lamb and Champion Female from Oliver & Adrienne Deane’s Mountford Flock
Overall, there was a great buzz about the sale with much interest being shown in the lots on offer both prior to the sale and ringside. With a clearance rate of 85% – well increased from the 2022 figures, it was clear to see that the excellent quality of stock on offer, encouraged buyers to purchase. The pedigree Average came in at €2628 with the Commercial average hitting €804 – up 16% on the previous year’s trade. While there was no export to Europe from the sale, there were a significant number of animals exported to Northern Ireland directly from the sale.
Gigot Class Champion from Arthur & Patrick O’Keeffe
The sale was described by Auctioneer John Doyle as ‘overall a very good trade with exceptional demand from Commercial Breeders, with some leaving disappointed at being unable to secure a purchase. Breeding rams presented were of an exceptionally good quality and the commercial end of the sale was on fire. ’
Despite the huge demand , there were prices to suit all pockets with SIS eligible rams being purchased from €500, which made for an extremely brisk trade. With an overall clearance rate of 85% on ram lambs, 70% of the lambs sold headed into the Commercial sector – up 20 percentage points on 2022. Demand was high and the Society attribute this high demand from the commercial sector on the confidence held in the Suffolk Breed for its ability to finish faster from a grass based system. In a climate of rising input costs this ability to finish ‘Fast from Grass’ is an important factor when trying to maximise farm profitability. Early finishing lambs always command premium prices – a major plus in this current difficult climate. Breeders are optimistic that this demand for the Suffolk breed will be evident throughout the breeding season and beyond.
Group of Three 1st Prize winners – Martin & JJ Doherty – Malinhead Flock
It was very encouraging to see so many of the newer breeders taking part in the sale for the first time and also to see the Young Handler Class so well supported with 1st place going to Isabella Taylor, Ballynacannon Flock, 2nd place, Paddy McMonagle with his own Beltanyview flock, recently founded with his brother Tommy and 3rd place to Millie Donald from Donbraid Suffolks.
The remaining Society Sales for 2023 will take place on the following dates: Cahir on Friday 1st Sept (Eve), Carnew on Wednesday 6th September (eve), Ballina on Tuesday 3rd October (day) and Raphoe on Friday 6th October (eve).
The Society would very much like to thank all our generous sponsors including – Championship sponsors Mayo Healthcare, Strabane Mills & Mullinahone Co-Op
Also Thankyou to our Class Sponsors Volac, Paul & Vincent, Corby Rock Mill, Tirlan, Redmills Feeds, LA McAuley Feeds, Galloway & Macleod, JP & M Doyle, Kiernan Milling, Dairygold, Animax Ltd, Brett Bros.
The best of Irish Suffolk Sheep showcased at Ratheniska
Members of the Suffolk Sheep Society welcome Barrie Turner, incoming CEO of Suffolk Sheep Society UK to the stand
The National Ploughing Championships returned after an absence of three years due to the pandemic and Suffolk Sheep Society – South of Ireland were delighted to once again be a part of such a great event.
Situated just inside the door of the NSBA Pavillion, the stand drew a huge amount of attention from attendees. Live Sheep are always popular and the stand showcased the best of Irish Suffolk Sheep breeding with both Pedigree and cross bred sheep on display. The Shearling Pedigree Ram, Muff Paddy, bred by his namesake, Paddy Carolan of Muff Suffolks was hugely popular with visitors to the stand – young and old alike. He was greatly admired and made impressive viewing on the stand.
The Society would like to express our gratitude to the Borris Ewe Breeders Association for loaning the Suffolk/Cheviot Cross ewes for the display. They were a great example of the superb breeding ewes which result from crossing the Irish Suffolk with a Cheviot Ewe. They make superb replacement ewes, who are easily lambed, milky and great mothers, who in turn produce fast finishing lambs ready to hit the premium Spring market at twelve weeks.
Maura Ryan From Borris Ewe Breeders who kindly supplied the Cross-bred Sheep for the standMuff Paddy – Shearling Ram
The hugely popular ‘Guess the Weight of the Lambs’ competition was back and saw an entry of well over 1000 over the three days. These were put in the draw for a €250 Society Voucher towards the price of a Suffolk Ram at any Society sale as well as second and third prizes kindly sponsored by Mayo Healthcare. We would like to thank Cormac Sheep Equipment for providing the scales on which the lambs were weighed on the final day.
Guess the Weight of the Lamb CompetitionStaff from Cormac Tagging who supplied the scales to weigh the lambs and Mayo Healthcare who provided some of the prizes
Overall the Ploughing Championships proved to be a very successful three days for the Suffolk Sheep Society – South of Ireland, allowing us to reacquaint with old friends and meet many new ones. We were delighted to see such a large interest in the breeding of Irish Suffolk Sheep among so many farmers and we look forward to welcoming many of them into the Society in due course. With confidence in the Society at an all time high, the future is looking very bright for Irish Suffolk Sheep.
We are delighted to announce that after a three year absence due to the Pandemic, our National Suffolk Championships will take place at Charleville Agricultural Show, Co Cork on Sunday June 26th.
Classes on the day will include Young Handlers, Shearling Ram & Upwards, Aged Ewe, Shearling Ewe, Novice Lamb – Male or Female, Ram Lamb, Ewe Lamb Trimmed & Ewe Lamb Untrimmed. We are very much looking forward to this prestigious event from our Suffolk Calender and we hope to see you there.
