Kilkenny lost a true legend two weeks ago when Christy Comerford lost his brave battle with illness. He will always be remembered with legendary status. With the passing of Christy, Kilkenny, the Irish Charolais Cattle Society and the wider farming community have lost one of its stalwarts.

Christy was well-known in the beef industry, was held in the highest of esteem and has blazed a trail for cattle breeders for many generations. His absence in the farming world will be sadly missed.

Christy was the salt of the earth who always reckoned he was educated in the University of Hard Knocks but the harder the knock the stronger he became.

The first of those hard knocks came when his father passed away suddenly some months before Christy’s second birthday.

From an early age, he developed a passion for animals culminating in him buying his first Charolais calf at the age of six.

This was the seed that spurred him on to develop the Knockmahon Herd which now boasts up to 150 suckling cows and a herd of pedigree Charolais cows, not to mention the 250-ewe flock.

When we reflect on Christy’s short but very prolific life, let us remember first of all that he was a family man. Christy loved his family, his wife Marguerite, his daughters Cynthia, Colette and Christine and his family loved him.

To Christy, family came first and when he attended the Charolais meetings nothing made him happier than taking the opportunity to bring the family along.

He was a farmer who worked hard, a dreamer who never stopped dreaming, a breadwinner who provided, a devoted husband who loved his wife, a proud father who adored his children and a friend who loved his cup of tea, having fun and of course the odd prank.

New farming ideas

The first time I set eyes on him was in 2006 in Carrick-on-Shannon, four days after his wedding. He showed a bull in the senior male class, got first prize and went on to take the overall male champion prize.

Christy Comerford.

Since that day, no week would pass without three or four conversations discussing family and new farming ideas.

We became great friends from that time and when the opportunity arose in 2017, I invited him to stand for election to the Irish Charolais Society. Christy accepted the invitation and he was duly elected.

His wealth of knowledge and experience of breeding top-quality, pedigree and commercial Charolais cattle was not only greatly appreciated by the Society but resulted in his promotion to vice-chair after only a one-year stint on the committee.

He carried out this role with distinction until March this year.

One of the major reasons for his success was his incredible ability to identify bloodlines that would improve his herd.

Christy was one of our own, a hardworking man who didn’t need the comfort of a leather seat and a summer recess to know what’s best for the beef industry

Ninety-nine percent of his bulls were sold at home on his farm and he promoted his bulls by bringing his top-quality weanlings to Kilkenny Mart.

Christy won the overall weanling class for no less than 10 consecutive years at Kilkenny Mart.

In 2014, he reached the summit by being tapped out first in the senior female class before going on to win the overall female champion at the Tullamore Livestock Show.

He, himself, described it as like winning an all-Ireland hurling medal.

Someone once said you get out of the land what you put into it and Christy definitely did that.

He supplied top-quality bulls to farmers not only in the southeast but all over Ireland, to Scotland, Wales and even as far as Australia.

Christy liked nothing better than giving guided tours of his herd at Knockmahon.

His home run came in 2019 when he and his family hosted the World Charolais Technical Congress, with delegates from all over the world coming to visit his farm.

The delegates and neighbours were treated to a night to remember, feasting on his tender Knockmahon steaks and entertained with singing and dancing into the early hours.

Delegates still haven’t forgotten the hooley in the barn that night.

Christy was one of our own, a hardworking man who didn’t need the comfort of a leather seat and a summer recess to know what’s best for the beef industry.

Christy was a fun-loving family man, a man of the earth, a man who lit up a room when he entered and who left you feeling better for his banter.

His passing leaves an enormous void but we are all the richer for having known him.

His memory will go on and his vision for the beef industry will never die.