Last weekend’s Irish Texel Sheep Society’s premier show and sale of males and females broke a number of records, including being the largest ever premier sale of Texel sheep.
Saturday’s sale certainly didn’t disappoint, with both Friday evening and Saturday setting new records.
The judging kicked off on Friday under the eyes of James Porter of the Salcotes flock in England.
Shearling ewe
Coming out on top in the shearling ewe class was Meath father-and-son duo Pat and Barry Farrell with a full sister to last year’s champion Oberstown Hope. She went on to do the same as her sister and claimed the overall female champion for the Farrell team for the third year in a row.
She’s sired by Hilltop Golden Eye out of a renowned Teiglum ewe that has bred the female champion for the Farrells for the last three years, and was also in the genetics of the champion male and reserve champion male in Friday’s presale show. She later went on to sell for an Irish record at auction of €10,000 to Alan Blackwood from the famous Auldhouseburn flock.
In what was a day the Farrells won’t forget, they also topped the ewe lamb trade with a maternal sister to the champion, an Auldhouseburn Fancy Pants ewe lamb selling for €5,000 to Brian Hanthorn and Frank Clewer.
The Farrells also picked up €3,500 for a full sister to the €5,000 ewe lamb, this time selling to Michael Gilmore.
The Murphy brothers came out on top in the ewe lamb class with a daughter of Lylehill Hit and Run. She later went on to claim reserve female champion and sell for €3,200 to Aaron Cox.
It was then on to hogget rams, with the top spot going to last year’s All-Ireland male champion from Brian Divilly with a full brother to the €13,000 Goldfinger ram, selling for €3,500 to Ronan O’Connor.
The ram lamb classes had some of the biggest of the evening. The first spot in the open ram lamb class went to John and Stephen Redmond with a son of Drumcon His Royal Highness – his mother being the mother of the overall champion last year. He sold for €3,000 to Thomas Kenny and Brian Connelly.
A Drumcon His Royal Highness son also claimed the next class, the recorded ram lamb class, for John Neville. He later sold for €5,000 to Hugh Catterson.
Irish-sired
The Irish-sired class was one of the standout classes of the day, with the first prize coming from Neville Myles’s consignment for Silver Hill Isle of Man with a Connemara Hilltop-sired mother who was bought in Blessington last year for €5,500. Isle of Man is also out of a ewe purchased in Blessington for €1,400. Isle of Man then later went on to claim male champion and overall champion and sold for €8,500 to Thomas Whitehead.
Next up was the Novice class, with the top spot coming from the flock of Irene Donnelly with a son of Auldhouseburn Fancy Pants. He went on to claim the reserve male champion and reserve overall. He sold for €20,000 to Fintan Hackett and Alan Glendenning.
All records were broken when Speenogue Iron Man entered the ring presented by Sean McHugh from Burt in Co Donegal. The ram, which had stood second in the Irish-sired class the day before, was sired by their Blessington purchase from last year for €6,000, Silver Hill Helpful, and was out of a home-bred ewe that was out of a ewe McHugh bought for €1,200 in the Derrylahan sale.
He was sold for €40,000 in a five-way split to Brian Divilly, Ronan Gallagher, Darragh Niland, Michael Gilmore and Sean Farragher.
The good times didn’t stop there for McHugh as he went on to sell Speenogue Iron Man’s pen mate for €9,000, sired by the same ram and out of a home-bred ewe by Kilcurley Ed. He sold to Robert Walker.
Next was the fifth prize open ram lamb, selling for €16,000, from the flock of Donegal man John Greene. He was sired by the All-Ireland champion Drumcon His Royal Highness. He sold with double five stars to the McHugh families.
A full brother to the reserve champion stood fourth in the recorded class from Jarlath Joyce. He is a son of Fancy Pants and a Gucci ewe, selling to Pat Lyons for €12,000
Jarlath also sold the pen mate for €6,000, an Equinox cross Gucci son who stood sixth in the show. He sold to John Neville and John Redmond.
The Cork-based O’Keeffe family kicked off a strong pen with €12,000 for a son of Knockhill Hercules. He was sold in a two-way split to James Garvin and Neville and Aaron Myles.
The father-and-son duo then sold a naturally born and reared Midlock Dapper son for €6,500 to Edward Buckley.
The good run didn’t end there, with their next lamb hitting €5,200, also selling to Neville and Aaron Myles.
The shearling ram trade was topped by John Donohoe with a son of the €13,000 Gold Finger. He sold for €4,000 to John J Brennan.
The general run of commercial shearling rams ranged in price from €800 to €1,800/head and ram lambs from €700 to €1,500/head
In the shearling ewe section John Greene was back in the money again this time with a second prize-winning shearling ewe, selling for €4,200. She was a Uskvale Get Ready daughter carrying five stars terminal, selling to Thomas Whitehead. Whitehead also picked up her pen mate at €3,200, sired by a home-bred ram, Larahill Ecstasy. She sold with double five stars.
The Greene family then got €3,500 for a Haymount Fancy That daughter, selling to William Norris.
The next-highest price was from the O’Keeffes with a Garngour Fly Half daughter, selling for €3,000 to John Tuke.
Clearance
Overall, the averages were the best the sale has seen, with the hogget ewes averaging €1,766, up from €972 in 2024 with a 92% clearance. Hogget rams averaged €1,461, up from €1,072 in 2024 with a 97% clearance; ram lambs averaged €2,005, up from €1,627 in 2024 with a 86% clearance with ewe lambs averaging €1,297, up from €1,062 in 2024 with an 86% clearance rate.