Tom Boyd and his brothers David and Keith farm in Carrickfinn on the northwest coast of Donegal.
“Where we live was originally an island, there’s a road to us now but that only came in the 1950s. Basically the next stop from us is America,” Tom jokes.
The family uses a 44ac island called Inisfree about a mile and half from the mainland that they use for summer grazing their sheep.
Farmer Tom Boyd, his brothers and neighbours land their boat on the rocky island shore.
“The island has been used by the family for as far back as we know,” Tom said.
“The sheep are all crossbreds and are bred from island sheep. Anything we bought in wasn’t able to survive out there.
“There’s no holding pens or access to the island with machinery. We can’t get up with a tractor or quad to spread fertiliser or anything.
“We basically have to land the boat on the rocks and scramble up the cliff to get the sheep. It can be a bit of a marathon, but it’s worth it. This year we had 28 sheep out there but we could have up to 60.”
Tom said he’s lucky he can call on family and friends to help him gather the sheep every year.
Farmer Tom Boyd, his brothers and neighbours all help to move sheep from their summer grazing on an island off the coast of Donegal back to the mainland.
“My brothers, uncles and cousins were all roped in to give us a hand,” Tom said.
“There’s a bit of shouting at each other – we call it “family bonding” – but it’s all good fun at the end of the day.”
Keeping hold of a sheep and trying to get it off the island before winter sets in.
“We land the boat, bring the sheep about 20m from where we gather them together, put them in a small boat and then transfer them to a bigger boat to bring them to the mainland. We did two trips this year to bring them all back.
“The trip is short enough, but you have to judge the weather and the tides. There were eight of us bringing them in this year and only one of us could swim, but no man or sheep was drowned and we all got home safely.”
Read more
In pictures: Island farming - 'we never forgot our roots'
Challenging reality of island farming
Listen: winterage – working with the Burren
Tom Boyd and his brothers David and Keith farm in Carrickfinn on the northwest coast of Donegal.
“Where we live was originally an island, there’s a road to us now but that only came in the 1950s. Basically the next stop from us is America,” Tom jokes.
The family uses a 44ac island called Inisfree about a mile and half from the mainland that they use for summer grazing their sheep.
Farmer Tom Boyd, his brothers and neighbours land their boat on the rocky island shore.
“The island has been used by the family for as far back as we know,” Tom said.
“The sheep are all crossbreds and are bred from island sheep. Anything we bought in wasn’t able to survive out there.
“There’s no holding pens or access to the island with machinery. We can’t get up with a tractor or quad to spread fertiliser or anything.
“We basically have to land the boat on the rocks and scramble up the cliff to get the sheep. It can be a bit of a marathon, but it’s worth it. This year we had 28 sheep out there but we could have up to 60.”
Tom said he’s lucky he can call on family and friends to help him gather the sheep every year.
Farmer Tom Boyd, his brothers and neighbours all help to move sheep from their summer grazing on an island off the coast of Donegal back to the mainland.
“My brothers, uncles and cousins were all roped in to give us a hand,” Tom said.
“There’s a bit of shouting at each other – we call it “family bonding” – but it’s all good fun at the end of the day.”
Keeping hold of a sheep and trying to get it off the island before winter sets in.
“We land the boat, bring the sheep about 20m from where we gather them together, put them in a small boat and then transfer them to a bigger boat to bring them to the mainland. We did two trips this year to bring them all back.
“The trip is short enough, but you have to judge the weather and the tides. There were eight of us bringing them in this year and only one of us could swim, but no man or sheep was drowned and we all got home safely.”
Read more
In pictures: Island farming - 'we never forgot our roots'
Challenging reality of island farming
Listen: winterage – working with the Burren
SHARING OPTIONS