Good weather largely prevailed for the well-attended 2026 Tullamore Show and FBD National Livestock Show.

Taking place at the Butterfield Estate in Blue Ball, Co. Offaly, yesterday (Sunday, August 9), the event saw only a light rain shower in the evening.

In the cattle section, the Parade of Champions took place after all the classes had been judged and brought the day's proceedings to a close.

Below is a gallery of Aubrac, Shorthorn and Blonde d'Aquitaine:

In the Shorthorn classes, it was a bull owned by Martin Kelly from Rathvilly, Co. Carlow that took the overall champion while a cow from the other end of the country in Co. Sligo took the reserve Shorthorn title, owned by the McKeown family.

Gallery below of Salers, Angus and Hereford:

It was a special year at the event for the Irish Hereford Breed Society, with delegates from across Europe in attendance at the breed's national championships.

The society is hosting the 2026 European Hereford Conference in Co. Kilkenny this week and delegates from across Europe travelled to the Tullamore Show and FBD National Livestock Show as part of the event.

Gallery of Belgian Blue and Commercial:

One of the big talking points at the livestock section was the quality of the cattle presented at the show on the day and the continued genetic progress being made in the cattle being presented annually.

In particular, several spectators noted the quality of the commercial type cattle presented on the day, an area that has been attracting increasing interest in recent years.

Gallery below of Simmental, Charolais and Parthenaise:

In the Charolais cattle section, John Ward from Bantry, Co. Cork, was awarded the senior champion and reserve overall champion title for his impressive young bull Colomane Augusta ET.

This bull is sired by the well-known society bull Neptune.

Gallery below of Limousin and Irish Moiled

In the Irish Moiled Cattle Society breed championships, it was Ravelglen Dolly 853 owned by Alan Mooney from Co. Kildare that took the title.

Dairy classes

As well as the pedigree and commercial beef breed classes, the dairy classes also drew particular interest on the day with an impressive selection of dairy-breed cattle on display also.

Gallery of champion dairy stock:

The parade of champions saw winners from counties Donegal to Kerry and from Mayo to Louth.

The sentiment among farmers on the day was largely positive but farmers in some parts of the country are concerned about the current low grass growth rates and fodder supplies.

Gallery of Reserve champions in the dairy classes:

The annual livestock show is seen by many as the pinnacle of the summer show season with several breed societies hosting their national breed championships at the event.

The one-day event brings together the wider agri-industry to showcase the best of Irish farming in a positive environment.