The Belclare Sheep Society held its premier sale at Kilkenny Mart in recent weeks.
There was an overall clearance of 70% of the rams at the premier sale, with 20% of the rams sold achieving four-figure sums.
The person tasked with the unenviable job of judging the pre-sale show was Co. Cork man Arthur O’Keeffe of the Annakisha Suffolk and Texel Flocks.
Hogget rams
The first class judged was the senior ram class. The winner of this class, Slanemore Hill Enar belonging to Eunan and Mark Bannon, found a new home in Munster.
The second class judged was the hogget ram class.
Following prolonged consideration, judge Arthur O’Keefe tapped forward Tim Keady’s Oltore Giovanni, with Euro-Star values of €7.30 (top 13%) and €1.57 (top 20%) for replacement and terminal indexes respectively for the red rosette.
The blue rosette went to Oltore Granger, also belonging to Tim Keady.
The highest price in the hogget section went to Oltore Griff from Tim Keady’s Co. Galway flock.
This ram was sired by the current senior ram all-Ireland champion, Oltore Fitzgerald, and boasted Euro-Star values of €8.13 and €2.36 for the replacement (top 3%) and terminal (top 2%) indexes respectively.
He was purchased for €1,350 by Eunan Bannon of the Slanemore Hill Flock, Co. Westmeath. There was a 100% clearance of the hogget rams offered for sale
Ram lambs
The third class judged was the ram lamb class. O’Keeffe carefully examined each lamb before coming to his decision.
The stand-out ram lamb on the day was Togherbeg Hector from Barry Cunningham’s flock. Togherbeg Hector boasted Euro-Star values of €7.87 and €2.54 for the replacement (top 5%) and terminal (top 2%) indexes respectively.
This ram won the ram lamb class and later went on to win the supreme champion, having previously won the All-Ireland Championship.
Togherbeg Hector was sired by Level Crossing Gerry from a Cathergal ewe and achieved the highest price at the sale. Following brisk bidding, George Chandler dropped the hammer at €2,350.
Togherbeg Hector was purchased by Paul Smyth of the Silverbrook Flock, Co. Offaly.
Second in the ram lamb class, and reserve champion, was Coolkellure Harry Maguire, sired by Kilmeany Ganger and belonging to Michael Gottstein. He had Euro-Star values of €7.46 and €1.41 for the replacement (top 11%) and terminal (top 31%) indexes, respectively. The ram was purchased by Tim Keady for €1,550.
Liam and Eoin Dunne’s Tubber Hamilton, with Euro-Star values of €8.20 [top 3%] and €2.55 [top 2%] for replacement and terminal indexes respectively, sold for €1,750 to Jonathan Duffy from Co. Leitrim.
Ballynulty Hurricane, with Euro-Star values of €8.06 [top 3%] and €2.18 [top 2%] for replacement and terminal indexes respectively, was sold by John McTigue to a commercial producer for €1,700. John received four figures for rams on more than one occasion.
Ewe hoggets
The final class judged was the ewe hogget class. O’Keefe awarded the female champion to a ewe hogget from the Coolgarragh flock of Liam Delaney. The ewe was sired by Alloon EA from a homebred ewe.
The reserve female champion was awarded to a ewe hogget from the Kilmeany flock of Larry Barrett.
The ewe was sired by Glenagivney Elfred form a homebred ewe. There was a clearance of 80% of the females offered for sale.