A young farmer from Co. Kerry, who had previously only visited Germany on a school trip, is among the hosts of a new travel show which will begin on TG4 next week.
Séaghan Ó Súilleabháin from mid-Kerry, who is also a qualified teacher, is well known to many people as the ‘Kerry Cowboy’ from social media where his videos of life on the farm have attracted worldwide attention.
“It was never really in the plan, it was just that I was making silly videos and my sister said, ‘if you threw those up on TikTok now they’d fly’. So I tried it.
“I was training my sheepdog pup, Braindí, at the time. I woke up the next morning and 50,000 people had watched it. After a week, over a million had watched it so I said I’m onto something here.
“I carried on making videos and after that I was recognised by TG4 and they got me to do two different series for them. So I’ve been very lucky with how it turned out,” he told Agriland.
Séaghan’s videos caught the eye of award-winning film and TV production company Macalla, which asked if he would be interested in making a travel show.
“Up until then I hadn’t done too much travel at all. Growing up on a farm you don’t really get the chance to be going to that many different places.
“It sounded really exciting and I thought it would be a chance to get myself out there.
“I got the chance to go travelling around Europe which is a chance not many people from farming backgrounds would get so I’m very lucky that I have supportive parents at home that told me to go off and do my own thing,” he said.
Travel show
According to Séaghan, Téacs Taistil, which begins a seven-week run on TG4 next Thursday, April 13, at 9:30p.m, is “a travel show like you’ve never seen before”.
The Kerry man is joined by two co-hosts who, unlike him, are both seasoned travellers; radio presenter Louise Cantillon from Limerick and podcaster and journalist, Proinsias Ó Coinn from south Armagh.
“We’re so different and that’s another thing that makes the show so interesting. We have such different backgrounds and personalities but we got on like a house on fire. They are lovely people and I’ve made two friends for life,” Séaghan said.
The location to which the three presenters are being sent is only revealed to them by text the day before they travel.
During their three-day visit the trio compete against each other in completing different tasks.
Without giving too much away, Séaghan revealed that his favourite destination was Croatia, which is featured in the first episode.
Séaghan, who was previously an ambassador for Seachtain na Gaeilge, believes there currently is “a big market for Irish”, with more people now taking pride in the language.
“It’s great that the opportunities are out there for Irish speakers to get different jobs in the media. I wouldn’t have all the travelling and all this done if I couldn’t speak Irish.
“If you told someone 20 years ago that speaking Irish would get you there, they wouldn’t believe it.
“It’s all about having the chat really. People put a lot of pressure on themselves but I only ever learned it in a conversational sense, talking about the weather and about this and that. You’d be surprised how quick you pick it up,” he said.
The Ó Súilleabháin farm, located between Killorglin and Milltown, currently milks 90 cows and fattens lambs over the winter.
“I can’t claim to be the farmer now with my carry on these days – I’m doing fierce travelling. But I grew up on the farm and I’m still based at home.
“I get roped in whenever I’m home, but these days, it’s hard to catch me,” Séaghan said.
Social media
With over 180,000 followers on TikTok, the Kerry man, who is currently working on a children’s TV show, believes there is an appetite for social media content from farms, especially in urban areas.
“Up to now, a lot of people didn’t think about where their food comes from at all. They just went to the shop and never thought about it. But I think people are fascinated by seeing the ‘behind the scenes’ of it all.
“A big thing as well is just nature, the amount of comments I get about the greenery from people who say they’d love to see it in real life, not just in other countries but in Ireland, they don’t get the chance.
“It’s a huge thing to people living in very grey and urban areas to see that kind of scenery,” he said.