‘The moment we’ve been waiting for,” said the chairman of Dairygold Co-op, Pat Clancy. “The overall winners of the Dairygold Quality Milk and Sustainability Awards 2024 are Aileen Sheehan and Philip O’Leary.”

My eyes welled up. “Oh woman, don’t cry now. This is Philip and Aileen’s moment, not yours,” I told myself.

The two recipients beamed with satisfaction. They headed for the podium but not before making sure that Sarah Aherne, their trusted employee was following. Sarah, who has been with them for three years was reluctant.

“Come on, you’re part of the team,” said Aileen. Philip and Aileen rely on their employees every day and hugely value their support. They always plan as a team and make sure that their part-time staff of Sarah, Aoife O’Leary and Tadgh Foley are fully aware of their tasks. The couple are excellent mentors.

Aileen is a full-time teacher of PE and maths in Scoil Mhuire gan Smál, Blarney, and Philip is a Captain in the Irish Defence Forces. Yet, they had a dream to dairy farm together. Four years ago, they leased Tim and Nora Kelleher’s dairy farm in Whitechurch.

The couple continue to be supportive of the young farmers. Aileen and Philip have put in extraordinary hours farming outside of their jobs. Yet they are organised enough to be training the minor Inniscarra camogie team, playing sports themselves, gardening, planting 1,800 trees around the farm and innovating at every opportunity.

They both have an extensive tool collection. One year, Philip gave Aileen her own small chainsaw for her birthday. She loves to be able to do everything herself.

This dynamic farming couple also find time for family and friends and are active members of two discussion groups. They could be in the same one but no, more knowledge is accessed through two different groups.

One year, Philip gave Aileen her own small chainsaw for her birthday.

We continue to share our learning. Farming can be your hobby as well as your job if you love it like Aileen and Philip do

Aileen is also a member of Dairy Women Ireland. She wants women to be able to farm efficiently so she puts a lot of thought into how tasks can be done effectively using mechanical rather than physical strength.

She and her husband are passionate farmers. They see networking as a huge asset to gathering expertise. That networking includes Philip ringing Tim most days and I’m sure Colm as well.

I had the privilege of calf rearing with them for a number of years. We continue to share our learning. Farming can be your hobby as well as your job if you love it like Aileen and Philip do.

Just as they faced into spring 2025, their little daughter, Katie was born. Aileen had to bow out of the day-to-day running of the farm. It was a very busy time for Philip. Katie is four months old and Aileen is already working herself back into the team with enthusiasm.

Among the best

Philip and Aileen were both shocked and pleased when they got the call from Dairygold announcing them as nominees in the Mallow region due to their year-long clean scorecard for milk production.

Last Thursday night in Springfort Hall, we were overjoyed when they were announced Mallow Regional winners and then later on took the overall award. We had watched the presentation on all the 18 regional nominees detailing excellent farming practices, clean milk production and innovative work in the areas of environmental protection and water quality.

The finalists showcased dairy farming in such a positive manner. It is important for them to remember that they are 18 out of 2,400 suppliers. I know Philip and Aileen were humbled to be among such outstanding farmers.

The Taoiseach, Micheál Martin being there to present the trophies to the winners was indeed the icing on the cake. Well done Philip and Aileen. I am proud of you both every day.