A founding member of the Irish Texel Sheep Society, Padraic Niland, has enjoyed over 40 years of breeding Texel sheep in Co Galway. With many triumphant tales to tell, Padraic’s ‘‘Bred to Breed’’ experience has left him with many fond memories of dealing with Texel sheep.

Padraig first encountered the Texel sheep breed in 1964 as they were imported by the Department of Agriculture. Since then, Niland has been a part of the breed’s progression and the development of the Irish Texel Sheep Society. Padraic has watched, guided and developed his Texel sheep flock since the day he applied to be one of the 15 farmers to receive four ewes and a ram during the country’s second importation of Texel sheep in 1976. With 550 punts being the total amount paid to receive such sheep, Padraic has seen that original investment flourish as he sold a lamb and its mother for 3,500 Irish pounds in 1981. ‘‘Enough to buy a house at the time,’’ as Padraic remarked.

Commitment

Padraic has experienced a relationship with Texel sheep that ‘‘never stopped’’ throughout the years and it’s clear that his involvement in the founding of the Irish Texel Society was a committed one. Padraic remembers the secretary at the beginning of the society’s establishment, Gerry More O’Farrell. It was said at the time that More O’Farrell would hold his post for one year but that eventually lead to a 27-year duty. The attachment More O’Farrell had to the establishment can also be seen in Padraic’s history as he too was captivated by the Texel breed.

As membership within the society grew from 60 members in 1980 to its peak amount of 350 in 1993 and 1994, Padraic experienced a similar upsurge in his stock numbers. The 1972 importation made Padraic realise the true significance of the breed. With many trials done at the time, Texel sheep proved to have a 4% higher lean meat content, larger eye muscle content and a 4% less fat content than other sheep breeds. Perhaps these original findings have helped the breed grow in popularity and become one of the most commonly bred breeds in Ireland.

Throughout Padraic’s participation in local and national Texel shows, he has achieved a ‘‘rosette of some colour’’ from each day he spent in the showing ring. With some years standing out, it’s true to say that the showing life that Padraic endeavoured was a very successful one. Claiming a record price that stood for 20 years in 1979 for a champion ram lamb of 3500gns is one of Padraic’s most remarkable achievements.

The year 2002 stands out to Padraic when asked to recall some of his stock’s most outstanding results. Blessington proved a potent place for Padraic as he claimed the first and second open ram lamb title, first and second LMI ram lamb titles, second prize hogget ram, overall champion, overall reserve champion and champion group of three During that year, the RDS supreme champion title, the champion ram at the Athenry sale and the champion ram at the Roscommon sale were all claimed by Padraic. To win any of these titles individually would be impressive but to win them all in the one year was ‘‘exceptional’’.

2009 was also a poignant year for Padraic as he secured the female champion title, the reserve female champion and reserve male champion title at the premier show.

During his flock’s early years, Padraic sold a plethora of his high-quality female ewes to Scotland and Northern Ireland. Being offered extremely good money, Padraic could not refuse the deals he was faced with. More recently, the cross-channel costumers are less frequent and this scenario is disappointing for Padraic to see, especially with the sterling advantage that they have. Looking ahead, ‘‘the successful Proctor ewe will encourage them to come back to Irish trade’’.

Pride

As Padraic’s flock is ‘‘Bred to Breed’’, it is clear that pride comes from seeing one’s own animal go off to produce and excel within another farmer’s flock. His 2009 all-Ireland champion female was sold for €10,000 to the UK. The ewe went on to breed the Royal Welsh champion and the Royal Highfield show champion. For anyone seeking to achieve success in the judging ring with their own produce, Padraic believes it’s crucial to ‘‘build towards the top rather than buying from it’’.

With recent developments in the Texel society such as the Sheep Ireland involvement with systems such as Qualeutex, Lambplus and the Euro-Star scheme, it’s clear to Padraic that the future development of the Texel breed has a bright and exciting future. The future of the Niland flock is also in secure hands as Padraic’s son, Gerard Niland won the overall champion title at the 2016 All-Ireland Texel show in Dundalk.

At the annual premier sale, a total of six male champions, seven reserve male champions, three reserve female champions and two reserve female champions have been won by Padraic. Padraic has also claimed two RDS champions, three RDS reserve champions, three Tullamore champions, six all-Ireland champions, three reserve champions, two flock champion titles, three reserve flock champion titles, many national stock titles and a national flock title to his name and flock number. Padraic Niland has excelled himself and his farm through his involvement and dedication to the Texel breed.

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