Like any young child growing up in rural Ireland, Sheamie Garrihy has nature at his fingertips. The eight-year-old lives in Kilfenora, Co Clare. From walking around with his Shetland pony, Frosty, to collecting eggs from the hens, he loves nothing more than being outside in the fresh air.
“I have been outdoors since I was very young. I got knocked off ponies many times but I got back on again,” says Sheamie.
A star overnight after appearing on the The Late Late Toy Show in 2023, Sheamie became a household name with his famous saying, ‘Keep it Country’.
“I had good craic on the The Toy Show, Patrick Kielty is sound,” he says. He enjoyed testing out the Lego before the show but admits, “After a few days of building, they went back in the box.”
After the show, Sheamie was in high demand.
“You have pictures and all that technology, but I’m not into that stuff or selfies. I am more of a pen-and-paper lad,” he says, admitting he would sign autographs for people if he was asked to.
When asked what he has been up to since the The Toy Show, Sheamie responds: “Doing jobs and bits, sure you know yourself”.
He has been living a normal life going to school and spending his free time in the countryside. “I usually just do my jobs outside like feeding the hens and ponies, all that type of stuff.”
Even the bad weather doesn’t deter him from his tasks. “Sure we have to keep the animals fed like,” he says.
Sheamie is a character with a humourous take on rural life. “Between a stone wall, two goats and the cuckoo, you wouldn’t have a bit of phone coverage and you wouldn’t hear nothing, even if you did.
“When you wake up in the morning it’s either the rooster or the cuckoo roaring."
Although he rocks the famous mullet hairstyle, Sheamie doesn’t think he set the trend as his granny had a mullet as well.
“I got it when I was a baby. It might be a few years but it’s still a nice haircut. My local hairdresser Melany O’Brien is just up the hill from our house, you don’t want it wild growing all over the place,” he says.
It’s not just the mullet hairstyle, Sheamie is ‘bringing braces back’ and is a man with style as he wears his great-granddad’s peaked cap that has several pins on it.
“People say I’m like an auld man,” Sheamie says jokingly, but it is fair to say he is an old head on young shoulders.
Sheamie Garrihy with his pony Frosty at home near Kilfenora, Co Clare.\ Eamon Ward
With school out for summer, Sheamie has just finished first class and is looking forward to the summer shows, fishing with his dad and being off school. Every year he goes to the Corofin North Clare Agricultural Show, “I won it with a rooster once. I still have the rosette that you clip onto your shirt,” he says.
He plans on entering it again this year on 22 July with his chickens and 11-year-old pony, Frosty.
“She’s better than any bicycle. Sometimes I bring her inside she wouldn’t have much dirt on her feet now. As long as you don’t bring her on the tiles, the mother goes mad,” he says.
Another one of his favourite things to do is go to poultry sales at the Coonagh roundabout to buy new hens and poultry. He recently purchased a new rooster.
Young entrepreneur
As a young entrepreneur, six months ago Sheamie started selling eggs in his granny’s garden centre with his own logo, ‘Sheamie’s free range’.
“I sell them there below in my granny’s garden centre in Ennistymon for €3 a box. I have about 30 hens,” he says.
His five-year-old sister Croídha helps to collect the eggs and keeps the chickens calm.
Sheamie Garrihy with his sisters Eada and Croídha and dog Spot rounding up the hens at their home near Kilfenora, Co Clare. \ Eamon Ward.
“All the chickens around here like me and they come to me straight away for more food,” says Croídha.
Having bartered several times, Sheamie has one specific time where the eggs came in handy.
“You might not know but I have glasses, I went below to a local optician Gilna’s in Ennistymon to get a new pair of glasses. I asked the man working there, ‘Who is the chief around here?’ A man heard me and said, ‘I am the chief here, what do you want me for?’
“I replied: ‘What’s the story about paying, do you pay cash or card or what?’
He didn’t look like the bartering or dealing type but he was still good fun. I said: ‘I have four boxes of eggs in the car, I’ll give you three for each of you who are working here.’ I got my mammy the glasses for €30, can you believe you have to pay to see better?” he said.
Lidl farm launch
Earlier this year Sheamie launched the Lidl farm education experience for 2024. He started growing his vegetables at home.
“We just started growing a garden outside. We planted cabbages, onions, potatoes, chives, garlic, parsnips, broccoli, carrots, cauliflower and lettuce. We might sell some in my granny’s garden centre,” he says.
Sheamie Garrihy at home near Kilfenora, Co Clare. \ Eamon Ward.
Sheamie understands the importance of learning where your food comes from. Recently a neighbour of his had a group of people from the city on the farm as he was milking. “Do you know where they thought the milk came from? A cardboard box,” he says, laughing. One thing is for sure, there is no stopping this young farmer.
“The Farm to Fork Experience at Lidl Farm delivered by Agri Aware is a crucial education AI tool and location to bring primary school students from urban areas to educate them on Irish agriculture and how the food they consume is produced,” says Shay Galvin, Chairman of Agri Aware.
The group was delighted to have Sheamie join them on the farm earlier this spring to highlight the work Agri Aware is carrying out in agri-food education for primary schools.
Jamie O’Rourke, events and partnerships manager at Lidl Ireland and Northern Ireland says Sheamie’s enthusiasm for farming and curiosity of the Farm to Fork Experience is really inspiring.
“He is a great role model for his peers as he is not afraid to ask questions. The Lidl Farm is a perfect platform to connect schools with farming to help children understand where their food comes from,” says Jamie.
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Like any young child growing up in rural Ireland, Sheamie Garrihy has nature at his fingertips. The eight-year-old lives in Kilfenora, Co Clare. From walking around with his Shetland pony, Frosty, to collecting eggs from the hens, he loves nothing more than being outside in the fresh air.
“I have been outdoors since I was very young. I got knocked off ponies many times but I got back on again,” says Sheamie.
A star overnight after appearing on the The Late Late Toy Show in 2023, Sheamie became a household name with his famous saying, ‘Keep it Country’.
“I had good craic on the The Toy Show, Patrick Kielty is sound,” he says. He enjoyed testing out the Lego before the show but admits, “After a few days of building, they went back in the box.”
After the show, Sheamie was in high demand.
“You have pictures and all that technology, but I’m not into that stuff or selfies. I am more of a pen-and-paper lad,” he says, admitting he would sign autographs for people if he was asked to.
When asked what he has been up to since the The Toy Show, Sheamie responds: “Doing jobs and bits, sure you know yourself”.
He has been living a normal life going to school and spending his free time in the countryside. “I usually just do my jobs outside like feeding the hens and ponies, all that type of stuff.”
Even the bad weather doesn’t deter him from his tasks. “Sure we have to keep the animals fed like,” he says.
Sheamie is a character with a humourous take on rural life. “Between a stone wall, two goats and the cuckoo, you wouldn’t have a bit of phone coverage and you wouldn’t hear nothing, even if you did.
“When you wake up in the morning it’s either the rooster or the cuckoo roaring."
Although he rocks the famous mullet hairstyle, Sheamie doesn’t think he set the trend as his granny had a mullet as well.
“I got it when I was a baby. It might be a few years but it’s still a nice haircut. My local hairdresser Melany O’Brien is just up the hill from our house, you don’t want it wild growing all over the place,” he says.
It’s not just the mullet hairstyle, Sheamie is ‘bringing braces back’ and is a man with style as he wears his great-granddad’s peaked cap that has several pins on it.
“People say I’m like an auld man,” Sheamie says jokingly, but it is fair to say he is an old head on young shoulders.
Sheamie Garrihy with his pony Frosty at home near Kilfenora, Co Clare.\ Eamon Ward
With school out for summer, Sheamie has just finished first class and is looking forward to the summer shows, fishing with his dad and being off school. Every year he goes to the Corofin North Clare Agricultural Show, “I won it with a rooster once. I still have the rosette that you clip onto your shirt,” he says.
He plans on entering it again this year on 22 July with his chickens and 11-year-old pony, Frosty.
“She’s better than any bicycle. Sometimes I bring her inside she wouldn’t have much dirt on her feet now. As long as you don’t bring her on the tiles, the mother goes mad,” he says.
Another one of his favourite things to do is go to poultry sales at the Coonagh roundabout to buy new hens and poultry. He recently purchased a new rooster.
Young entrepreneur
As a young entrepreneur, six months ago Sheamie started selling eggs in his granny’s garden centre with his own logo, ‘Sheamie’s free range’.
“I sell them there below in my granny’s garden centre in Ennistymon for €3 a box. I have about 30 hens,” he says.
His five-year-old sister Croídha helps to collect the eggs and keeps the chickens calm.
Sheamie Garrihy with his sisters Eada and Croídha and dog Spot rounding up the hens at their home near Kilfenora, Co Clare. \ Eamon Ward.
“All the chickens around here like me and they come to me straight away for more food,” says Croídha.
Having bartered several times, Sheamie has one specific time where the eggs came in handy.
“You might not know but I have glasses, I went below to a local optician Gilna’s in Ennistymon to get a new pair of glasses. I asked the man working there, ‘Who is the chief around here?’ A man heard me and said, ‘I am the chief here, what do you want me for?’
“I replied: ‘What’s the story about paying, do you pay cash or card or what?’
He didn’t look like the bartering or dealing type but he was still good fun. I said: ‘I have four boxes of eggs in the car, I’ll give you three for each of you who are working here.’ I got my mammy the glasses for €30, can you believe you have to pay to see better?” he said.
Lidl farm launch
Earlier this year Sheamie launched the Lidl farm education experience for 2024. He started growing his vegetables at home.
“We just started growing a garden outside. We planted cabbages, onions, potatoes, chives, garlic, parsnips, broccoli, carrots, cauliflower and lettuce. We might sell some in my granny’s garden centre,” he says.
Sheamie Garrihy at home near Kilfenora, Co Clare. \ Eamon Ward.
Sheamie understands the importance of learning where your food comes from. Recently a neighbour of his had a group of people from the city on the farm as he was milking. “Do you know where they thought the milk came from? A cardboard box,” he says, laughing. One thing is for sure, there is no stopping this young farmer.
“The Farm to Fork Experience at Lidl Farm delivered by Agri Aware is a crucial education AI tool and location to bring primary school students from urban areas to educate them on Irish agriculture and how the food they consume is produced,” says Shay Galvin, Chairman of Agri Aware.
The group was delighted to have Sheamie join them on the farm earlier this spring to highlight the work Agri Aware is carrying out in agri-food education for primary schools.
Jamie O’Rourke, events and partnerships manager at Lidl Ireland and Northern Ireland says Sheamie’s enthusiasm for farming and curiosity of the Farm to Fork Experience is really inspiring.
“He is a great role model for his peers as he is not afraid to ask questions. The Lidl Farm is a perfect platform to connect schools with farming to help children understand where their food comes from,” says Jamie.
Read more
Lidl launches 2024 farm experience for schoolchildren
IFJ Junior: Get to know FCJ Bunclody's agricultural science class
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