Ciara Ryan quips that she missed the Saturday morning cartoons as a child because she was always running around after sheep.
“We used to joke at home that we didn’t have a sheepdog, that I was the sheepdog,” she says of her first farming memory.
Her love of animals was there from early on, and when it came to deciding on a career, agriculture was always on her radar. However, it’s fair to say she didn’t quite picture being one of the youngest mart managers in the country at just 26 when she was appointed a year ago.
Speaking in her office in Mid-Tipperary Co-Op Mart in Thurles on a Friday morning, she has a few minutes to chat before the rush of farmers booking animals in for Monday’s sale that afternoon.
She reflects on a busy year for the mart, which is celebrating its 60th anniversary.
Taking up the role in January of 2025, she jokingly remembers getting flashbacks as she walked through the door of her many visits to the mart with her dad Tom when she was a youngster, getting a bottle of 7up and a packet of crisps.
Loss and resilience
Aged just 11, however, her world was turned upside down by the loss of her beloved father.
“He died suddenly on 27 May 2010, so it was a big upheaval. I even remember he had been shearing sheep the evening before, and then he was gone the next day,” she says, with audible emotion in her voice.
The change was even more seismic for her mother Bridget, Ciara admits, but even in a time of such sadness, she opted to take over and try to keep the farm going, which Ciara is grateful for.
If they hadn’t given the support that they had at the time. I would say our whole farm would have been set [leased]. To be honest, they made it possible. And look, we found something that works for us now with sucklers and sheep
“While she was always involved in the farm and doing the books and everything like that, now suddenly she was left with cattle and she didn’t know if they were fit to kill.
“She wasn’t as hands-on in regards the decision-making, that side of it, and we had a huge number of sheep as well, and there were land lettings and stuff like that. So, it was a lot of pressure for her at the time, and obviously it was a big change. I suppose you grow up quite fast,” she observes.
Looking back now, Ciara, who is an only child, believes such a loss so young “probably makes you quite resilient”.
Having great neighbours in her homeplace of Templederry made it possible to keep the farm going, something she cannot thank them enough for so many years later. Her dad’s sister Ann was also a massive support at that time.
“We’re incredibly blessed with really, really incredible neighbours that were so good to us and rallied so strongly around us.
“If they hadn’t given the support that they had at the time. I would say our whole farm would have been set [leased]. To be honest, they made it possible. And look, we found something that works for us now with sucklers and sheep,” she comments.
Encouraged to study agriculture in UCD because of the broad options it offers, Ciara is keen to stress she couldn’t have done it without the support and the sacrifices her mother Bridget made for her education.
Initially, she saw her future in sales. She worked in Liffey Mills on counter sales during college and later did a graduate programme with Tírlán, working as a sales rep for several years in south Tipperary.
She later moved to Ceva Animal Health and was on the road with them last year when she applied for the mart manager job. While she enjoyed it, Ciara felt an office-based job would suit her better, and her skills would transfer to the sales yard which they duly have.
Speaking about her current role in the mart, she says, “It’s been really busy, and I’ve learned an awful lot, and I have a lot more to learn,” she says of her first year, adding that she has been helped in so many ways by the experienced staff in the office, in the yards and by the co-op committee.
Asked what her biggest learning experience has been, and she replies instantly: “time management”. With sales on a Monday and Wednesday at this time of year, the Thurles base is a busy spot.
Manic Mondays
Later, showing Irish Country Living around the yard, Ciara points out that the last two sales on Monday had over 1,000 animals on top of their busiest spring with record calf numbers.
“On a Monday, it’s just manic from the time you start,” she says, smiling. “We come in at 7am, and it’s busy from the point of view of numbers, getting cattle through the shoots, and getting cards ready. There might be issues, different things like that. So just being able to manage that [is a challenge].”
On top of that, there are timed sales of pedigree animals online and land lettings/sales managed and administered from the mart premises.
“The technology is, I’d say, going to play more and more of a role [in the mart]. As time goes on, I can see that, definitely,” she remarks. There are advantages for the buyer and seller with the online sales, she adds, saying it gives the mart a broader reach beyond the locality and is a real help to part-time farmers.
“You might have people that might not step foot in the mart, and they’ll be able to bid away,” the Tipperary native observes.
Despite the mart still being an overwhelming male environment, Ciara doesn’t bat at an eyelid at that fact, given she’s been around it all her life. While she is glad to see several other female managers now in place, she sees it more about being the best person for the job rather than about gender.
Ciara embraces the banter and clearly enjoys interacting with customers.
“I like meeting people. I enjoy having the craic with people there at the counter on a Monday and talking about the hurling matches at the weekend, talking about the racing,” she says.
While there was a bit of novelty about her appointment in the beginning, that is well gone now.
All in all, she is optimistic about the future of the mart, but it will continue to evolve alongside the role of agriculture in the country.
“What that looks like in 10 years’ time, I don’t know. If you asked people 10 years ago, would there be an online platform for bidding – people would have said that wouldn’t work. Now there are people that couldn’t imagine not having it,” she points out.
While Ciara believes there will be challenges in terms of stock numbers and rising costs, just like every other business, the mart is here to stay. As the influence of the rural pub wanes, the importance of the mart as an important meeting place and a “social outing” grows too, she adds.
Away from the mart ring and a bustling office, you’ll find Ciara on the GAA fields playing camogie and football for Silvermines or down on the family farm herding stock, all of which gives her a switch-off and the balance she needs. She credits sport with giving her the confidence to throw her hat into the ring for the job in the first place and advises others to go for it. “If you’re not in, you’re definitely not going to get it.”
While Ciara says her late dad Tom might think she was a bit mad to take on a role with big responsibilities, she knows he would be very proud too. “There is nothing worth doing that doesn’t come with responsibilities,” she concludes.
