Heading west to Dingle, you reach a point where it looks like the coast road is about to disappear. Turn right and you face into the centre of the peninsula and the nearby village of Annascaul.
Local farmer Padraig Kennedy describes the area.
“There’s a couple of good humps in the middle of the parish, everything else then is robbed off the mountain.“
It’s a good summation of the locality that rises from the Atlantic at Inch beach and climbs 826 metres to the summit of Beenoskee mountain. Padraig and his neighbour Shaun McCarthy are two farmers who have a share of the open commonage on the hills of Brackluin and Meelin overlooking the R561.
According to him, the key to hill sheep farming is the relationship between the ewe and the ewe lamb on the mountain. He points up the hill.
“There’s a ewe up there and she has five daughters and they’re all with her and their daughters would be with them and they have their own patch on the hill. You couldn’t put a financial value on her.”
Learning the hard way
He also works as a stone mason and is realistic about the financial returns his sheep give him.
“They are not as saleable as the nice chunky ones, but you aren’t throwing money at them. It took me about 10 years to figure it out.
“They are economical ewes. They spend nine or 10 months on the hill. I cut back on the costs, got hardier sheep and I’ve less work and as much money if not a little bit more out of them.”
It’s a form of natural selection, he says.
“The way with them is get busy living or get busy dying. You kinda have to be a bit ruthless with them. Anything that fails, you sell them, and anything that thrives, you leave them and knock your replacements off of them. Eventually you end up with something that will suit your farm.”
Shaun runs a dairy farm behind the village. Like Padraig, he pushed his farm too for a time, but is now well aware of the limitations of the land.
“We can grow the grass back here as good as anyone else but we can’t utilise it. We’re driving it into the ground or leaving it behind in winter. A lot of the places might seem understocked but there’s a reason for it.”
Missed opportunity
He is well aware of the knowledge of the local sheep farmers and feels there is an opportunity to learn from them.
“It’s the like of these sheep farmers that have the knowledge and this could be used for training others. There’s nothing thought of them but they’re the people managing the Wild Atlantic Way that’s marketed.”
The area is not short of challenges. Topping the list, according to Padraig, are farming in the rain all the time and lack of opportunities for young fellas.
“The statistics would be frightening.”
Padraig has three children in family, two in Dublin, the other in Cork.
“They might come back because its cool to live in west Kerry but it won’t be for money. There is plenty work in Dingle but I can’t see any of them coming back any time soon.”
He thinks the Wild Atlantic Way could be a great brand for local products and could offer a chance for young people to stay in the area, but admits it will require a bit of work.
“If you could offer them something besides bad weather and if they could have a few pound in the pocket without having to put in all the hours, they probably might come back. But it would have to be their own decision.”
Shaun nods in agreement.
“You have to jump on the brand wagon,” he adds. “Look at Murphy’s ice-cream in Dingle. They’re flying it.”
He thinks more could be done that would benefit farmers in the area.
“It’s a pity there is no abattoir back here to go to local restaurants and supermarkets. You could bring beef heifers or lambs off the mountain and market them as being from the Dingle Peninsula or Wild Atlantic Way.”
His concern, from his own experience, is that those showing initiative will get bogged down in paperwork. But he sees a solution and with it a chance to create a few jobs.
“There should be people designated to the likes of West Kerry for food. Like the old LEADER type system with the know-how and skills to do all that paperwork, someone that could handle the bureaucracy.”
The best thing - and biggest challenge - about farming on the Wild Atlantic Way
Dairy farmer Shaun McCarthy checking on his new born calves. \ Valerie O'SullivanShaun McCarthy: “Being in a good parish with good neighbours. It’s a good place to rear a family and I suppose we’re lucky to have the options of income from tourists passing through. Weather is the biggest challenge. We’re the first point rain hits as it comes across the Atlantic. We get between 1,300 and 1,600ml of rain every year.”
Sheep farmer Padraig Kennedy \ Valerie O'SullivanPadraig Kennedy: “You are your own boss and it’s just a nice place to be and a nice place to rear a family. When the weather is OK it’s a good place to live. July and August are a nightmare when roads are so busy, but we’ll put up with that as that brings revenue in. At the moment, it’s the weather that is the biggest challenge.”
Heading west to Dingle, you reach a point where it looks like the coast road is about to disappear. Turn right and you face into the centre of the peninsula and the nearby village of Annascaul.
Local farmer Padraig Kennedy describes the area.
“There’s a couple of good humps in the middle of the parish, everything else then is robbed off the mountain.“
It’s a good summation of the locality that rises from the Atlantic at Inch beach and climbs 826 metres to the summit of Beenoskee mountain. Padraig and his neighbour Shaun McCarthy are two farmers who have a share of the open commonage on the hills of Brackluin and Meelin overlooking the R561.
According to him, the key to hill sheep farming is the relationship between the ewe and the ewe lamb on the mountain. He points up the hill.
“There’s a ewe up there and she has five daughters and they’re all with her and their daughters would be with them and they have their own patch on the hill. You couldn’t put a financial value on her.”
Learning the hard way
He also works as a stone mason and is realistic about the financial returns his sheep give him.
“They are not as saleable as the nice chunky ones, but you aren’t throwing money at them. It took me about 10 years to figure it out.
“They are economical ewes. They spend nine or 10 months on the hill. I cut back on the costs, got hardier sheep and I’ve less work and as much money if not a little bit more out of them.”
It’s a form of natural selection, he says.
“The way with them is get busy living or get busy dying. You kinda have to be a bit ruthless with them. Anything that fails, you sell them, and anything that thrives, you leave them and knock your replacements off of them. Eventually you end up with something that will suit your farm.”
Shaun runs a dairy farm behind the village. Like Padraig, he pushed his farm too for a time, but is now well aware of the limitations of the land.
“We can grow the grass back here as good as anyone else but we can’t utilise it. We’re driving it into the ground or leaving it behind in winter. A lot of the places might seem understocked but there’s a reason for it.”
Missed opportunity
He is well aware of the knowledge of the local sheep farmers and feels there is an opportunity to learn from them.
“It’s the like of these sheep farmers that have the knowledge and this could be used for training others. There’s nothing thought of them but they’re the people managing the Wild Atlantic Way that’s marketed.”
The area is not short of challenges. Topping the list, according to Padraig, are farming in the rain all the time and lack of opportunities for young fellas.
“The statistics would be frightening.”
Padraig has three children in family, two in Dublin, the other in Cork.
“They might come back because its cool to live in west Kerry but it won’t be for money. There is plenty work in Dingle but I can’t see any of them coming back any time soon.”
He thinks the Wild Atlantic Way could be a great brand for local products and could offer a chance for young people to stay in the area, but admits it will require a bit of work.
“If you could offer them something besides bad weather and if they could have a few pound in the pocket without having to put in all the hours, they probably might come back. But it would have to be their own decision.”
Shaun nods in agreement.
“You have to jump on the brand wagon,” he adds. “Look at Murphy’s ice-cream in Dingle. They’re flying it.”
He thinks more could be done that would benefit farmers in the area.
“It’s a pity there is no abattoir back here to go to local restaurants and supermarkets. You could bring beef heifers or lambs off the mountain and market them as being from the Dingle Peninsula or Wild Atlantic Way.”
His concern, from his own experience, is that those showing initiative will get bogged down in paperwork. But he sees a solution and with it a chance to create a few jobs.
“There should be people designated to the likes of West Kerry for food. Like the old LEADER type system with the know-how and skills to do all that paperwork, someone that could handle the bureaucracy.”
The best thing - and biggest challenge - about farming on the Wild Atlantic Way
Dairy farmer Shaun McCarthy checking on his new born calves. \ Valerie O'SullivanShaun McCarthy: “Being in a good parish with good neighbours. It’s a good place to rear a family and I suppose we’re lucky to have the options of income from tourists passing through. Weather is the biggest challenge. We’re the first point rain hits as it comes across the Atlantic. We get between 1,300 and 1,600ml of rain every year.”
Sheep farmer Padraig Kennedy \ Valerie O'SullivanPadraig Kennedy: “You are your own boss and it’s just a nice place to be and a nice place to rear a family. When the weather is OK it’s a good place to live. July and August are a nightmare when roads are so busy, but we’ll put up with that as that brings revenue in. At the moment, it’s the weather that is the biggest challenge.”
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