Found in 1891, the County Wexford Sheep Breeders Association is now in its 135th year.
It was established by three families which include the Allcocks family of Wilton Estate, the Halldares family from Bunclody and the Carew family of Castleborrow, Co Meath.
From the start, Border Leicester and Cheviot breeds were sold in the association’s sales with Suffolks then being introduced in the 1920s, Texels in the 1980s and Charollais’ in the 1990s.
County Wexford Sheep Breeders moved the annual sales from The Showgrounds in Enniscorthy to the Wexford Farmers’ Co-op’s Enniscorthy Mart in 1970, with shows and sales still running here to date.
The continuity of the running of the association’s sales since 1891 is due to some great secretaries such as Harry Poole, Sam Leech, Mabel Leech (33 years of service) and Michael Brennan (19 years of service).
In 1991 the association came together to raise €100,000 for the cardiac department in Wexford General Hospital where farmers donated livestock and funding for the great cause.
Mabel Leech, secretary at the time was a driving force behind this with Dr Paddy McKiernan being the prime mover from Wexford General Hospital.
Over the years, the association has had some very prominent sheep breeders and their families have presented perpetual cups in their honour, including the Ballybeg Poole cup, Robert Morris cup, Arthur Sweetman cup and Rothwell cup.
These cups and others including the County Wexford Marts cup, People Newspapers cup, Supreme Feeds cup and Sam McCauley cup are presented each year at the annual dinner.
Four sales are run by the association each year with a mix of mainly Suffolk, Texel and Charollais ram lambs and hogget rams on sale.
The association has a number of shows and sales coming up over the coming months all to be held in Enniscorthy Mart including:
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