2018 Hall of fame award announced

The 2018 National Hall of Fame awards took place over the weekend at the Sheraton hotel in Athlone. This year marks the 16th annual event. What started off with nine bovine awards has over the years expanded to include the ovine and equine sectors and a total of 22 awards.

The success of the event is due in no small part to the drive and dedication shown by National Hall of Fame awards CEO Michael Flanagan.

He and his son Oliver have been the key driving force behind what is now regarded as the pinnacle of a breeder’s success. The awards highlight a breeder’s contribution, dedication and commitment to a breed, which in many cases spans a lifetime.

A ceremony night of this calibre, which gained sponsorship from across Ireland and hosted over 400 guests from across the farming community, is no small undertaking. So while the recognition on the night was duly to the recipients of the awards, it’s only fair that Michael and Oliver bask in the glory to a certain extent.

This year’s recipients have all in some way made a contribution to improving each of their particular breeds. This week, we focus on the bovine sector which features 10 worthy winners. Next week we will feature the ovine winners.

Kevin Diffley, Clooncolligan, Bornacoola, Co Leitrim

The Clooncolligan Irish Angus Herd was established in 1989 with the purchase of Bohey Bertha from the renowned Bohey Herd of Michael Reynolds. Bertha’s first calf, Clooncolligan Eamon, went on to claim the supreme championship at Carrick-On-Shannon in April 1990, while another Bertha calf, Clooncolligan Greatest, won the Herd’s first All-Ireland Irish Angus Junior Championship in 1991. Kevin’s keen eye for a quality heifer and a good bargain has seen the herd grow to its current status. The Clooncolligan Herd is well known in the show ring, with many successes over the years. The highlight for Kevin was when Clooncolligan Daffodil won the Supreme Irish Angus All-Ireland and RDS Champion of Champions award in 2009. Clooncolligan Kara also claimed the title in 2016. Kevin has served on the Irish Angus Council for many years and was elected as president in 2011. During his time as president, Kevin was instrumental in setting up the first ever shipment of Irish Angus pedigree heifers to Kazakhstan with livestock exporters Hubert and Micheal Maxwell, and these markets are continuing to grow.

Patrick Kent, Aclare, New Ross, Co Wexford

Patrick first became acquainted with the Belgian Blue breed in the mid 1980s having experienced great success and realising the benefits of Belgian Blue-cross beef in his fattening enterprise. In 1988, he purchased a breeding heifer from the Debiert herd in Belgium which became the foundation female of the Aclare herd. From there, Patrick built up his herd, reaching 50 breeding cows by the mid-1990s. From there, he has concentrated his efforts on the production of easy-calving bulls suitable to Irish grass-based systems. Patrick is always keen to respond to customers’ needs and over the past 20 years has fine-tuned his breeding policy to meet their requirements. He has a keen interest in farming politics and is serving his third term as national president of the ICSA while at the same time continuing to breed and promote the Belgian Blue breed.

Benny Keating, College Hill, Templemore, Co Tipperary

In 1974, Benny bought an in-calf Charolais heifer at the first sale of imported Charolais females to Ireland at £2,000. The dream turned into a nightmare when the heifer had to have a Caesarean. The calf, a heifer, was lost and the mother would not go back in-calf. As the breed got more plentiful, he purchased three or four pedigree weanling heifers each year and put them in-calf, selling them in-calf as three-year-olds.

He purchased a pregnancy from the well-known and respected breeder Jim Ryall of the Knockane Herd. The dam was Knockane Cynthia and the sire was Jupiter. The calf was a heifer, which he called Prime Noelle. Cynthia had won 58 championships including many national and interbreed championships. Noelle did not disappoint, being unbeaten in the show ring in 1999 and taking the overall heifer champion title at the National Charolais Show. She would also go on to capture the supreme Charolais and interbreed titles at the Tullamore National Livestock Show.

Her progeny included the AI bull Prime Roberto; Prime Ruby, the 2003 senior and supreme Charolais heifer champion at the National Charolais Show; Riversdale Anchor, supreme male champion at the 2007 National Charolais Show; and Prime Champion. At 10 months old, Prime Champion was adjudged best Irish-bred male at Beef Expo 2008. Prime Usher, a son of Prime Ruby, was the 2006 senior male champion at the National Charolais Show, shown by the then owner, Christy Comerford.

Sean O’Brien, Culdaff, Co Donegal

Sean O’Brien hails from Culdaff on the Inishowen Peninsula in Co Donegal. He has spent his entire life working with pedigree and commercial cattle and sheep. Sean has worked with the Hillhouse pedigree Charolais herd, Faughanvale pedigree Belgian Blue herd and Harestone pedigree herds in Aberdeenshire. Sean also runs his own Atlantic and Bluebell pedigree and commercial cattle herds. A pedigree Belgian Blue bull he bred, Bluebell Conor, is currently standing in AI with semenstore.co.uk.

Sean has won many all-Ireland titles, including championships in Virginia, Strokestown, Limerick and Athlone. He has also won the supreme championship at the National Livestock Show in Tullamore on a number of occasions. In 2015, Sean was awarded the prestigious Top Stockman award by the British Charolais Society and in 2017 Sean was inducted into the Commercial Cattle Exhibitors Societies Hall of Fame at the annual Winter Fair held in Ennis, Co Clare. Sean has been a member of the Commercial Cattle Exhibitors Society Ltd since its formation. He has served as PRO on the council and was chosen to judge the calf classes at the 2017 winter fair.

Peter Casey, Lisnalurg, Co Sligo

In November 1969, Peter purchased his first Hereford in-calf heifer Spacot Hazel from James McManus, Dublin Road, for £135 in Carrick-on-Shannon. She was in-calf to Ballyraggan 358 and was due on 1 January 1970. Following the birth of a bull calf, Peter joined the Hereford Society. In February 1971, that calf was sold in Carrick-on-Shannon for 350gns having placed second in his class.

It was on that day that he met the late Brian Duffy. He advised him to go to Donegal to Dan Diver who had Herefords for sale. Peter purchased two dry cows from him for £300. One of these was Rorardstown Melody, which he later sold to the late James Henry who started the Lisadell Herd. The second cow, Collagh Bea, went in-calf to Terwarren Goldfinch and she produced a male calf Lisnalurg Bullfinch. A first prize-winner at the RDS Show and Sale, Bullfinch was sold for 650gns, which he put towards the purchase of a new Opel Kadett, which cost £820. Daughter of Collagh Bea, Naughty Bea, was the dam of Lisnalurg Uincible, who was a top performer in Tully before being purchased by Dovea AI station.

Dessie Dunleavy, The Twenties, Drogheda, Co Louth

Dessie’s knowledge and achievements in Holstein Friesian breeding are such that he is known the length and breadth of the country. He is recognised as a top-class judge, eminent breeder and renowned stockman. Dessie commands a tremendous intuition and his passion for quality Holstein Friesian breeding knows no bounds. In 1977, he began working for JJ Kelly’s Moneymore herd in Drogheda as manager. With dedication and stockmanship, he showed Moneymore Bunty 6 to win the Championship at the RDS in 1983. They went on to win both the champion and reserve champion titles at the very first National Dairy Show in Millstreet in 1983. This was the start of a 20-year spell in which the Moneymore cattle and Dessie Dunleavy on the halter were synonymous with unparalleled achievement around the country, including the Navan National Dairy Show.

Following the dispersal of the Moneymore herd in 1999, Dessie joined the AI industry. His solid advice on breeding and good counsel is always in demand in his role with World Wide Sires covering the northeastern and Ulster counties. Dessie is a staunch supporter of his local Northeastern Friesian Breeders Club and has played a very active part in the club since it was founded. He has held many officer positions over the years and helped contribute to a very active and successful programme of events.

National recognition for Dessie’s commitment and stellar role in quality Holstein Friesian breeding was conferred when he was elected as IHFA president in 2007.

Pat McGuinness, Bettystown, Co Meath

Pat became a member of the society in 1991 when he founded the Mosney herd after purchasing a foundation female, Bremore Celestial, from the herd of Larry and Bobby Jones.

Among Pat’s earliest triumphs was Mosney Jumbo – a homebred bull which was sold to the Ballydaniel herd and went on to take the male championship at the national show (then held during the Ploughing Championships) for an unprecedented two years in a row.

Pat is also very well known and highly regarded on the commercial show circuit. Even before his involvement with Limousin, he was a regular feature at shows all over Ireland. One of his commercial Limousin heifers helped in no small way to turn farmers’ focus to the Limousin breed when in 1996 she won the supreme commercial champion title at the National Livestock Show in Tullamore, being the first Limousin to do so.

The society quickly became aware of Pat’s keen interest in developing the breed and was delighted when he became a member of council in 1996. Pat resigned from council in 2004, having served for eight years including two as vice-president, during which he represented the Irish Limousin Cattle Society at Eurolim meetings in Europe. Since his retirement from Council, Pat, along with Martin McCullagh, has undertaken the role of inspectors at Limousin Society sales.

John O’Malley, Derradda, Recess, Connemara, Co Galway

John O’ Malley became interested in Salers cattle when he heard the words describing them as cattle that thrive on rough grazing. He thought they might suit the rough terrain of Connemara where he farms. In spring of 1999, his first commercial calves were born from an AI Salers bull, all born outside without any problem. The following autumn, he sold his weanlings at the local mart. They had the best growth rate of any breed he had used before and got the best price in the mart on the night.From then on, he was hooked on Salers. Having bought his first Salers bull two years earlier, in 2002 he went to France to the National Salers Show and has been a regular visitor since. He bought his first pedigree heifer from the Brihat herd in France in 2004, which started the Connemara Salers Herd. John regularly travels to the Balmoral Show, Royal Highland Show and Royal Welsh Show and has shown successfully at shows and sales in Ireland. His latest interest is to get a polled gene into the herd to which the first homozygous heifer calf was born in 2018, to an imported English-polled heifer.

Joe Doherty, Charlestown, Co Mayo

Joe purchased his first pedigree Shorthorn cow Glore Cleopatra in May 2000 from James Lyons from Glore, Aughamore. Two weeks later she calved down a big roan bull calf. Cleopatra was a big powerful roan cow with a lovely mild temperament, with descendants still in the Kilbeagh herd today. Kilbeagh Pioneer was the name that Joe gave the calf and he got the herd off to a great start being purchased by Sligo AI in 2001. The herd now amounts to 20 cows and a Stock bull.

Joe is a member of the Shorthorn Society Council since 2005, making him the longest-serving council member. In that time ,the society has witnessed great improvement in the standard and quality of the Shorthorn cattle at shows and sales. A lot of good work has been done by the society in bringing in outcross bulls and, with some breeders setting high standards with quality cattle making record prices.

Joe Mc Garry, Newtownforbes, Co Longford

In 1982, Joe and Mary McGarry set up the Clonguish Herd with the purchase of Monaduff Liz from Alex Ross. The herd grew slowly having retained Liz’s daughter, Clonguish Rose, and was run alongside their commercial suckler herd. Since then the herd has purchased select females throughout the years with some of the more noted including Curryline Wanda, Celtic Maggie and Brogeen Victoria. These females can be found in the back breeding of the herd’s top breeding cows and together produced numerous champions and high sellers. Some of the highlights for Clonguish-bred animals include, numerous national titles both male and female, Balmoral champion as well as sale toppers which have made their way across the water and performed there.

Joe has been a strong supporter of the North Eastern Simmental Club over the last 30 years through attendance at local shows and club events.