I farm: “A flock of just under 40 ewes. It’s a pedigree Suffolk flock. The flock was established by my father in 1989. His father Denis started his flock in 1949, so Suffolk sheep and breeding Suffolks have been part of our lives for longer than I can remember.”
Labour: “I farm with my father Philip as well as my brother Donncha. We all work full time, the sheep at home is part-time. I’m a grain trader with R&H Hall, the animal feed importer.”
Breeding: “We use artificial insemination and we have done for a long time and find it very successful, especially when we all work off farm. Having the ewes lambing over a couple of days and not a spread-out lambing season suits us. We also use embryo transfer. It’s a very valuable technology when it comes to breeding stock.”
Lambing: “We would lamb ewes in the first week of January and our first sales would be in the first week of August. We’ve got a premier show and sale in Blessington on the 1 and 2 August, and that would be the first big ram sale for us. We sell the remaining ram lambs at various sales through the back end.
Customers: “The majority of our lambs would be sold to pedigree or commercial breeders. We’re part of a sale called the Black Beauties and we would sell five or six in-lamb ewes at that too.”
Sheep 2025: “We’ve got eight sheep entered to the South of Ireland Suffolk Society All-Ireland championships in Athenry this Saturday at Sheep 2025. We’ve entered shearling rams, ram lambs, aged ewes, shearling ewes and ewe lambs, so pretty much nearly all the classes.”
Competition: “That’s the thing about breeding sheep, it is a bit of an obsession and it’s a great interest to have as well, and you do meet a lot of people and make good friends. You’re meeting like-minded people. It’s competitive too, everyone is trying their best and everyone puts a lot of time and effort into it. The sheep game at the moment is very strong.”
Philip Lynch. \ Philip Doyle
Philip Lynch with his father Philip. \ Philip Doyle
Philip Lynch Jnr, chair of the Suffolk Sheep Society with some of his Suffolks on the family farm in Castlebellingham, Co Louth. \ Philip Doyle
I farm: “A flock of just under 40 ewes. It’s a pedigree Suffolk flock. The flock was established by my father in 1989. His father Denis started his flock in 1949, so Suffolk sheep and breeding Suffolks have been part of our lives for longer than I can remember.”
Labour: “I farm with my father Philip as well as my brother Donncha. We all work full time, the sheep at home is part-time. I’m a grain trader with R&H Hall, the animal feed importer.”
Breeding: “We use artificial insemination and we have done for a long time and find it very successful, especially when we all work off farm. Having the ewes lambing over a couple of days and not a spread-out lambing season suits us. We also use embryo transfer. It’s a very valuable technology when it comes to breeding stock.”
Lambing: “We would lamb ewes in the first week of January and our first sales would be in the first week of August. We’ve got a premier show and sale in Blessington on the 1 and 2 August, and that would be the first big ram sale for us. We sell the remaining ram lambs at various sales through the back end.
Customers: “The majority of our lambs would be sold to pedigree or commercial breeders. We’re part of a sale called the Black Beauties and we would sell five or six in-lamb ewes at that too.”
Sheep 2025: “We’ve got eight sheep entered to the South of Ireland Suffolk Society All-Ireland championships in Athenry this Saturday at Sheep 2025. We’ve entered shearling rams, ram lambs, aged ewes, shearling ewes and ewe lambs, so pretty much nearly all the classes.”
Competition: “That’s the thing about breeding sheep, it is a bit of an obsession and it’s a great interest to have as well, and you do meet a lot of people and make good friends. You’re meeting like-minded people. It’s competitive too, everyone is trying their best and everyone puts a lot of time and effort into it. The sheep game at the moment is very strong.”
Philip Lynch. \ Philip Doyle
Philip Lynch with his father Philip. \ Philip Doyle
Philip Lynch Jnr, chair of the Suffolk Sheep Society with some of his Suffolks on the family farm in Castlebellingham, Co Louth. \ Philip Doyle
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