The Irish Charollais Sheep Society hosted its premier show and sale in Tullow livestock mart last Saturday, with prices hitting record highs.

Spectators and breeders didn’t have to wait long as lot 17, a shearling ram from the Duiske flock, hit the market at €9,000.

This year’s sale topper was bred by Gerry and Dympna Grogan, who run the Duiske herd outside Donadea, Co Kildare.

Their March 2020-born ram boasted five stars on both the terminal and replacement indices.

Sired by the 2018 premier sale topper Ballyhibben Talisman, he is out of a homebred dam by Blakeney Oscar.

After back and forth bidding, auctioneer George Candler eventually dropped the hammer at €9,000 to a ringside round of applause.

A record price was also reached at last year’s premier sale, when a ram sold for €7,500.

The previous top price of €5,500 had been set 16 years earlier.

The trade throughout proved quite strong on Saturday, with a number of high four-figure prices, despite an extra 40 rams on offer on the year.

Full report to follow in this week’s Irish Farmers Journal.