There was a time when the sale of wool from a hill flock would feed the family for the year; now it would hardly buy the family a feed in Supermac’s.

This was the picture painted by Mayo farmer Mícheál McDonnell at the Agricultural History Society of Ireland (AHSI) annual conference in Leenane, Co Galway last weekend.

The conference heard talk of past days when wool used make £1/lb, but black Scotch wool at the moment is hardly making 20c/kg.

“It was a huge day in the household when the sheep were being gathered and being sheared,” McDonnell said.

“Wool was a hugely valuable material for farmers in the past and it brought in a lot of income for the house,” he recalled.

“We kept a lot of wethers for two or three years for wool that time, because of the weight of the wool you’d get off them,” he explained.

“I remember when you’d be shearing the wool that time, and you’d be throwing the fleece and the father would shout – ‘don’t be throwing that, you’re shaking the sand out of it’,” McDonnell said.

Losing the sand, meant less weight in the wool and less money as a consequence, he pointed out.

“Wool was hugely profitable. The father always said that when you sold the wool, you’d feed the family for the year.

“I told that to a fellow recently and he said, ‘on my way home after selling it this year I couldn’t even feed myself in Supermac’s’,” McDonnell told the conference.