The North East Irish Texel Club recently held its second main sale at The Showgrounds in Virginia, Co. Cavan.
The sale consisted of an excellent show of both quality Texel females and rams, the club said.
There was a brisk trade for the nine females forwarded with all animals finding new homes. Top price in the female section was for a ewe lamb from Co. Limerick man Robert Walker’s Kilcurley flock.
This stylish ewe lamb, sired by the €8,500 Hill View Eloi and out of an Auldhouseburn Bullit dam, was knocked down to new breeder Kyle Kiernan at €920.
The female champion at the pre-sale show came from another Co. Limerick flock: Willie Keyes’ Faroe Texels.
This ewe lamb was another daughter of Hill View Eloi and from a Derrylaghan Bagatelle dam. Kyle Kiernan was also the purchaser of this ewe, this time spending €700.
The average price of the female section, which had a 100% clearance, was €535.
In the pre-sale show of males it was another long-distance traveller from the O’Keeffe’s Annakisha flock from Mallow, Co. Cork which were awarded the overall champion by judge Malachy McMeel.
Annakisha Flannery, a five €uro-Star terminal son Midlock Dapper who has bred numerous champions for the O’Keeffes this season and a Garngour Alabama dam, was sold for €800 to Gerry Gibbons. The O’Keeffes sold three animals at the sale for an average price of €800.
The reserve champion came from the Oberstown flock of Pat and Barry Farrell from Oberstown, Tara, Co. Meath.
Oberstown Freaky Friday is a son of the famous Sportsmans Dare Devil, who sired the €13,000 champion at the Irish Texel Premier in Blessington and whose son sold for £160,000 at Lanark this year.
Freaky Friday, a four €uro-Star terminal, was sold to Thomas Kenny, who runs the Hillswood Wood Texel’s in Co. Roscommon, for €680.
It was Pat and Barry’s second lamb in the ring that made the top price for males, €890, on the day. This double five €uro-Star ram sired by Alderview Explosive and a Mainview dam out of Fairywater Columbo was sold to Shay Sheridan from Co. Meath.
The Farrells finished off a very successful day when their last ram lamb from their pen of three was sold for €860. It was the Kenny family who purchased this ram for their Hillswood and Kenny flocks.
The Finn flock of G, C and M Taylor from Drumully Clones had a sole entry in the sale, a hogget ram by Kilduff Carlos, which sold for €800. The McHugh flock, Greenhill Texels, has a double five €uroStar son by Loughash Dynamite which sold for €780.
There was a brisk commercial trade from commercial sheep farmers seeking animals with power and good €uro-Star values.
The overall average for rams sold on the day was €539 and the clearance rate was 75%.
