The last spring sale for the Irish Limousin Cattle Society took place online over the weekend, with Denis Barrett again officiating proceedings in the virtual auctioneer box.

Similar to all online-only auctions so far, clearance rate was hit hard, with only 10 of the 23 bulls forward finding homes. It seems the idea of people spending a substantial sum of money without first inspecting the bull isn’t taking off, despite the current hopefully never seen again circumstances.

Videos and pictures

Sellers submitted videos and pictures of their bulls, with potential buyers logging on to denisbarret.com to bid. Topping the sale were two separate bids of €3,000.

First at the money was Ammaghmore Nutcracker from the herd of Sean Garrett, Ballycastle, Co Mayo. Nutcracker is a son of Haltcliffe Dancer and the Nenuphar dam Ammaghmore Candy. Carrying five stars for a number of traits, he was knocked down to a Cavan-based buyer.

Also hitting the €3,000 mark was Fermoyle Nino from Enda Moloney, Briadford, Co Clare. Carrying five stars on both the terminal and replacement indices, this bull is a son of Bavardage, with Cerberus on the dam’s side. Securing the joint top-seller was a Monaghan-based farmer.

Just behind the sale toppers was the €2,900 Milan Neptune. This young bull was bred by Donie and Maura McKeon and his lineage contains Derriaghy Enfield, Ionesco and Ferry.

Hitting a price of €2,700 was Quilty Limousins Punk from Martin McGannon, Co Clare. Rating very high on the indices, he is another son of Bavardage.

Bertie Mannion of the well-established Ballyline herd which is based in Curraghboy, Co Roscommon, offered a number of homebred in-calf heifers for sale.

Topping these was the Goldies Jackpot daughter Ballyline Nora for €2,250. Nora sold scanned in calf to Mereside Godolphin. She was the pick of a Limerick based purchaser.