I farm: “Part-time alongside my father, Joe. I run roughly 80 ewes and 20 hoggets, with Dad having similar numbers.
“Ewes are predominantly the Mayo Blackface type, with some Cheviot crosses also in the mix, with ewes put back again to the Cheviot ram.
“Lambs are sold live as stores in the back end of the year.”
Scanning: “This week we were scanning the flock, with lambing set to commence from 1 April. We were happy with the scan results, with very few empties. Some ewes have scanned with twins, but for the hill-type system we are running, singles work well for us.
“Twin-bearing ewes are separated out and given some of the lower ground, with singles going back onto the hill in Keenagh. It’s just a waiting game now until lambing kicks off.”
Diarmuid Walsh farms part time alongside his father in Mayo. \ Michael McLaughlin
Off-farm job: “I work as an apprentice technician with Eir, with just a few months left to finish off. Work is hectic at the minute, as we were just finishing repairs from the last storm when storm Éowyn hit.”
Football: “I play corner forward with our local club Crossmolina Deel Rovers, with the pitch being directly across the road from our house. We had 103 pitch training sessions over the last 12 months, with gym, sauna and sea sessions along with this.
“We won the Mayo final against Garrymore before beating Elphin in the Connacht final. A lot of clubs, like Garrymore, have been very good to us in the run-up to the final, allowing us the use of their pitches to accommodate lads working or in college away from home.”
All-Ireland final: “We played Ballinderry in the All-Ireland club intermediate final in Croke Park on Sunday last. It was fairytale stuff that Conor Loftus got the goal in the final minute to win it for us, but the win was bittersweet for obvious reasons.
Diarmuid Walsh says that single-bearing ewes work well on his farm due to the hilly landscape. \ Michael McLaughlin
“We have had the backing of the whole town, and I don’t think we would have done as well only for the support that the Crossmolina community gave us.”
I farm: “Part-time alongside my father, Joe. I run roughly 80 ewes and 20 hoggets, with Dad having similar numbers.
“Ewes are predominantly the Mayo Blackface type, with some Cheviot crosses also in the mix, with ewes put back again to the Cheviot ram.
“Lambs are sold live as stores in the back end of the year.”
Scanning: “This week we were scanning the flock, with lambing set to commence from 1 April. We were happy with the scan results, with very few empties. Some ewes have scanned with twins, but for the hill-type system we are running, singles work well for us.
“Twin-bearing ewes are separated out and given some of the lower ground, with singles going back onto the hill in Keenagh. It’s just a waiting game now until lambing kicks off.”
Diarmuid Walsh farms part time alongside his father in Mayo. \ Michael McLaughlin
Off-farm job: “I work as an apprentice technician with Eir, with just a few months left to finish off. Work is hectic at the minute, as we were just finishing repairs from the last storm when storm Éowyn hit.”
Football: “I play corner forward with our local club Crossmolina Deel Rovers, with the pitch being directly across the road from our house. We had 103 pitch training sessions over the last 12 months, with gym, sauna and sea sessions along with this.
“We won the Mayo final against Garrymore before beating Elphin in the Connacht final. A lot of clubs, like Garrymore, have been very good to us in the run-up to the final, allowing us the use of their pitches to accommodate lads working or in college away from home.”
All-Ireland final: “We played Ballinderry in the All-Ireland club intermediate final in Croke Park on Sunday last. It was fairytale stuff that Conor Loftus got the goal in the final minute to win it for us, but the win was bittersweet for obvious reasons.
Diarmuid Walsh says that single-bearing ewes work well on his farm due to the hilly landscape. \ Michael McLaughlin
“We have had the backing of the whole town, and I don’t think we would have done as well only for the support that the Crossmolina community gave us.”
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