Although the Gigginstown name may be more widely known for the famous maroon and white silks that are synonymous with national hunt racing, on Saturday 22 April, the crowds will gather at Fennor Farm, Co Westmeath, for the annual Gigginstown House Angus sale.

The sale will see 25 pedigree Angus bulls and 20 pedigree Angus females go under the hammer from many of the herd's top stock bulls, including the Perth champion and Shadwell’s young stockbull Stouphill Master Prince W346, Gigginstown Kick Back, Corbetstown Red Evan M881, Lisduff Donny, Liss Maxy, Mogeely Dram X783, Luddenmore Kingkong, Coolderry Red Uncle Buck 054 and Steil Theodore 420.

The female lots offer something for everyone, with a choice of maiden heifers, in-calf heifers and some heifers on the point of calving, giving potential customers the best of all worlds.

The heifers are all scanned either in-calf or correct and right for breeding, with the cream of the crop on offer throughout.

The Gigginstown spring sale heifers 2023 enjoying being out on grass ahead of the upcoming sale.

The Gigginstown Angus herd was established in 1997 when Michael O’Leary and farm manager Joe O’Mahony purchased Canadian show champion heifers, which were later joined by a number of top-quality pedigree breeding females from both Ireland and the UK.

The herd started with 30 females and has continued to grow from strength to strength over the past 25 years.

There are now approximately 450 breeding females in the Gigginstown herd, which boast some of the finest and most sought-after Angus genetics, not only in Ireland, but across the UK, Europe and Canada.

The herd runs up to 15 stock bulls per year, with a large emphasis placed on breeding not only new genetics each year, but building on the quality that the herd was established on.

The herd runs up to 15 stock bulls per year, with a large emphasis placed on breeding not only new genetics each year, but building on the quality that the herd was established on.

I asked Joe why they selected the Angus breed when setting out to establish their Gigginstown livestock herd.

“Michael was always ahead of the game. He knew the quality of Angus beef and could foresee the demand for that quality.

"The Angus cattle are low maintenance, good natured and early maturing, so they were the ideal choice. They are just like the airline - low-input, high-output,” he added jokingly.

Gigginstown farm manager Joe O'Mahony checking on the young stock out grazing. There is no creep feeding on farm because of the bloodstock.

The farm is spread across 1,500 acres with approximately 500 acres of that land in tillage. The rest of the land is divided up into grazing blocks and paddocks for the livestock and bloodstock, with a huge emphasis placed on herd health.

There is also roughly 200 head of commercial Angus cattle purchased each year for further feeding.

These cattle are purchased in large groups from farms around the country, although this year - with the rising input costs and cattle prices remaining so strong in marts - the team has decided to finish some of its homebred stock that aren’t suitable for pedigree breeding.

Each year, the team aims to calve down roughly 100 cows before Christmas, which not only takes the pressure off when the remaining 100 cows are calving down from mid-January to early April, it also provides the team with a wide selection to choose from when selecting the 15- to 18-month-old bulls for the spring sales.

The Gigginstown House Angus Sale is taking place on Saturday 22 April at 12.30pm at Fennor Farm, Co Westmeath, N91K026.

Gigginstown fam manager Joe O'Mahony out checking on the young heifers. The calving is split in two with 100 cows calving before Christmas with the last 100 calving from mid January to early April.

“Our bulls are well grown, aged between 16 and 24 months, are easy calving and provide a source of out-cross genetics to improve all breeding programmes for both pedigree and commercial producers.

"Because we rigorously focus on quality, we believe that Gigginstown House Angus will continue to provide Irish, UK and European Angus breeders with the opportunity to introduce new bloodlines and add real quality at tremendous value to your herd,” Joe added.