Philip and Aileen collected me. Katie was reading in her car seat. She was probably telling granny that she was on her way to see the very special moo-moos on Tom, Mary and Michael Ryan’s farm, in a place called Lisheen, where Maryland Farm goes back over five generations to 1860.

The Ryans were the 2025 National Winners of the National Dairy Council and Kerrygold Quality Milk Awards, supplying Centenary co-op Society Ltd, Thurles.

My son, Philip and his wife, Aileen Sheehan, were among 12 finalists in the competition nominated by their co-op Dairygold, and they were overjoyed to take home the Grassland Management Award in October.

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There were six main pillars to the competition: milking hygiene and facilities, lowest somatic cell count, environmental stewardship, grassland management, lowest carbon footprint and animal health and welfare.

There was no need for sat nav; I knew where I was going, through Thurles and onwards towards the beautiful Lisheen Castle. I had explored the ruins as a child with Tom’s sisters, Maura and Margaret, and Pauline and Geraldine Grimes next door.

I had played hide and seek in the Ryan farmyard over 50 years ago. I had been in and out of the welcoming homestead of the late Michael and Mary Ryan.

I had played hide and seek in the Ryan farmyard over 50 years ago. I had been in and out of the welcoming homestead of the late Michael and Mary Ryan.

The beautiful weather that we experienced last week seemed very true to my childhood memories. The sun was always shining when I was playing with the four girls down Lisheen Lane. Tom was much younger than us, so in those days it was the girls that were milking, while their dad was out cutting grain.

The tradition of excellence in dairy was the tag line for this farm walk and that tradition was always strong. Of course, the developments that the Ryan family undertook since my last visit, especially since Michael joined his parents, rendered my memories unrecognisable.

Irish tradition

Standing at the first information board, where we were welcomed by hosts Teagasc, Ornua, NDC and Centenary, I got a gentle tap on the shoulder followed by a lovely welcome from Tom and Mary. I met Maura and Mary on the tour and so many beautiful Moyne/Templetouhy people, all with words of welcome and goodwill.

It is a lovely Irish tradition to welcome back those of us that found our homes in other counties. We had to have the hurling chat. John Martin, representing Centenary in his introduction to the farm, said Tipp mightn’t do the double in the GAA but they could do it in dairying with Aidan and Derval Kennedy from Cahir being the celebrated 2024 winners.

This farm is just beautiful – flat – unlike what I’m used to in Cork, functionally laid out with fine roadways and bursting luscious hedgerows with strong clovergrass swards in lovely condition.

The cows, shining from recent rain, looked on at the crowds from behind a single stand of temporary fence wire. The buildings are sturdy and purpose-built. There was not a cobweb in sight, such was the cleanliness of the yard. Cow dung does not exist, no green tinge anywhere. Katie even crawled along the pristine collecting yard.

Teagasc produced a factual booklet for the occasion. The Ryans won because they hit “the totality of all the factors of good farming practice along with milk quality,” according to the judges, Professor Karina Pierce UCD, Professor Paddy Wall and Dr David Gleeson, formerly Teagasc. The Ryans have 150 Holstein Friesian cows. They farm 80ha with a milking platform of 56ha, producing 548 kgs of milk solids/cow.

It was obvious that excellence and attention to detail were the drivers on this farm with both generations committed to being ambassadors for the 16,000 dairy farms in Ireland.