The Texel Premier sale broke all records this last weekend!
The weekend was always set to be a good one, with the sale having the biggest entry ever of rams in the premier sale to give buyers even more choice!
The sale definitely didn’t disappoint, with both Friday and Saturday setting new records, firstly with the individual records and thereafter overall averages breaking all records.
The judging kicked off on Friday under the trustworthy hands of James Porter of the Saltcotes flock in England.
With one of the largest entries in the history of the sale, it was always going to be a hard job, but it was evident from the start that the standard was among the best ever put forward.
First to kick off the day’s proceedings was the shearling ewe class. There was no shortage of big, powerful shearling ewes in this class. Coming out on top was Pat and Barry Farrell with a full sister to last year’s champion. She went on to do the same as her sister and later claimed the overall Female Champion title. She was sired by Hilltop Golden Eye out of a renowned Teiglum ewe that has bred the Female Champion for the Farrells for the last three years and was in the genetics of the Champion Male and Reserve Champion Male. She later went on to sell for an Irish record at auction of €10,000 to Alan Blackwood.
It was on to the ewe lamb class, with the Murphy brothers coming out top here with a daughter of Lylehill Hit and Run. She later went on to claim Reserve Female Champion and sell for €3,200gns to Aaqron Cox.
It was then on to Hogget Rams, with the top spot going to last year’s All Ireland Male Champion from Brian Divilly with a full brother to 13k Goldfinger, selling for €3,500 to Ronan O’Connor.
We then moved into the biggest classes of the day: the ram lambs, with the classes starting with the Open Ram Lambs. The first spot went to John and Stephen Redmond with a son of Drumcon His Royal Highness, his mother being the mother of the Overall Champion last year. He sold for €3,000 to Thomas Kenny and Brian Connelly.
A Drumcon His Royal Highness son also claimed the next class, the recorded ram lamb class, for John Neville. He later sold for €5,000 to Hugh Catterson.
We then kicked off the standout class of the day, the Irish Sired class, with the first prize coming from the Silver Hill pen of Neville & Aaron Myles with Silver Hill Isle of Man sired by Connemara Hilltop who was bought in Blessington last year for €5,500 (Hilltop’s dam was also purchased in Blessington 2023). Isle of Man is also out of a ewe purchased in Blessington for €1,400gns; it shows you the value that can be got in Blessington. Isle of Man then later went on to claim Male Champion and Overall Champion and sold for €8,500 to Thomas Whitehead.
Next up was the Novice class, with the top spot coming from the flock of Irene Donnelly with a son of Auldhouseburn Fancy Pants out of the famous Gucci. He was shown under the guidance of her brother Anthony and claimed the Reserve Male Champion and Reserve Overall. It was then on to the sale where he sold for €20,000gns to Fintan Hackett and Alan Glendening.
The ram trade was surely going to be good with the high standard that was on offer, so it’s no surprise that the record price was broken on Saturday.
The record-breaking ram, Speenogue Iron Man, came from Sean McHugh from Lifford in Donegal. The ram, which had stood 2nd in the Irish Sired class the day before, was sired by their Blessington purchase from last year for €6,000, Silver Hill Helpful, and was out of a home-bred ewe that was out of a ewe Sean bought for €1,200 in the Derrylahan sale, which shows the value that can be got in the south of Ireland. He was sold for €40,000gns in a five-way split to Brian Divilly, Ronan Gallagher, Darragh Niland, Michael Gilmore and Sean Farragher.
Brian Divilly, Darragh Niland (Buyers) Sean McHugh (Seller) Michael Gilmore (Buyer)
The good day did not stop there for Sean; he sold the pen mate for €9,000, sired by the same ram and out of a home-bred ewe by Kilcurley Ed. He sold to Robert Walker.
It was then the below-noted Reserve Champion who hit the €20k mark.
Next was the 5th prize Open Ram Lamb, selling for €16,000, from the flock of John Greene. He was sired by the All Ireland Champion Drumcon His Royal Highness. He sells with double five stars to the McHugh families.
It was then a full brother to the Reserve Champion that stood fourth in the recorded class from Jarlath Joyce. He is a son of Fancy Pants and a Gucci ewe, selling to Pat Lyons for €12,000gns.
Jarlath also sold the pen mate for €6,000, an Equinox cross Gucci son who stood sixth in the show. He sold to John Neville and John Redmond.
Also at this money was the first lamb from the Kilduff pen a son of the Hilltop Golden Eye off a Cheif mother. this one heads to Donegal with Ryan Doherty
The O’Keeffes kicked off a strong pen with €12,000, a son of Knockhill Hercules. He was sold in a two-way split to James Garvin and Neville and Aaron Myles.
The father and son duo then sold a naturally born and reared Midlock Dapper son for €6,500 to Edward Buckley.
The good run didn’t end there, with their next lamb hitting €5,200 and selling to Neville and Aaron Myles.
The shearling ram trade was topped by John Donohoe with a son of the 13k Gold Finger. He sold at €4,000 to John J. Brennan.
While all of these prices were sold to pedigree breeders, commercial farmers were there in force and picking up great value, picking shearling rams up from €800 to €1,800 and ram lambs from €700 to €1,500—something to meet all budgets.
The female sale was topped by the Farrells with €10,000 for a shearling ewe. They also topped the ewe lamb trade with a maternal sister to the champion, with an Auldhouseburn Fancy Pants ewe lamb selling for €5,000 to Brian Hanthorn and Frank Clewer.
Other leading price in the females was the 2nd prize shearling ewe, selling for €4,200gns. She was a Uskvale Get Ready daughter carrying five stars terminal, sold to Thomas Whitehead. He also picked up her pen mate at €3,500, sired by a home-bred ram, Greenhill Ecstasy. She sold with double five stars.
The Green family then sold at €3,500 a Haymount Fancy That daughter, selling to William Norris.
The next highest price was from the O’Keeffes with a Garngour Fly Half daughter, selling for €3,000 to John Tuke.
The ewe lamb trade was also as strong throughout, with the Farrells also picking up €3,500 for a full sister to the €5,000 ewe lamb, selling to Michael Gilmore.
Overall, the averages were the best the sale has seen, with the Hogget Ewes averaging €1,766, up from €972, 92% clearance; Hogget Rams €1,461, up from €1,072, 97% clearance; Ram Lambs €2,005, up from €1,627, 86% clearance; Ewe Lambs €1,297, up from €1,062, 86% clearance.
Other leading prices
Ram Lamb
Lot 149 ANTHONY DONNELLY €5000 to MICHAEL BIRD
Ram Lamb
Lot 356 J C & M MCHUGH €5000 to JOHNMARTIN
Ram Lamb
Lot 172 ADAM HEFFERNAN €4000 to MICHAEL HEGARTY
Ram Lamb Lot 258 FERGAL OSE Lot 3500 to JIM HARRISON
Ram Lamb
Lot 283 P&B Farrell €3500 to T Kenny B Connelly
Ram Lamb Lot 156 €3,000 JAMES GARRIVAN PATRICKLYONS
Ram Lamb Lot 221 €3000 JOHN D BROOKS to EDWARD BUCKLEY
Class 1
1st Lot 14 Pat and Barry Farrell
2nd Lot 11 J, C & M Mc Hugh
3rd Lot 6 A and P O’Keeffe
4th Lot 7 J, C & M Mc Hugh
5th Lot 26 John Greene
6th Lot 25 John Greene
2 Class Ewe Lamb
1st Lot 77 Jand P Murphy’s
2nd Lot 40 N & A Myles
3rd Lot 70 W Doherty
4th Lot 78 J and P Murphy
5th Lot 73 P &B Farrell
6th Lot 50 L Dillon
Shearling Ram
1st Lot 138 B Divilly
2nd Lot 99 A &P O’Keeffe
3rd Lot 130 J Neville
4th Lot 118 M & C Walsh
5th Lot P & A Murphy
6th Lot 104 G Devlin
Open Ram Lamb
1st Lot 252 J Redmond
2nd Lot 279 P & B Farrell
3rd Lot 340 A & P O’ Keeffe
4th Lot 300 J Neville
5th Lot 289 J Green
6th Lot 164 J Joyce
LambPlus Ram Lamb
1st Lot 299 J Neville
2nd Lot 283 P & B Farrell
3rd Lot 165 J Joyce
4th Lot 149 A Donnelly
5th Lot 267 N Myles
6th Lot 357 J, C & M McHugh
Irish Sired Ram
1st Lot 266 N Myles
2nd Lot 230 S McHugh
3rd Lot 282 P & B Farrell
4th Lot 364 J, C & M McHugh
5th Lot 221 J Brooks
6th Lot 341 A & P O’ Keeffe
Novice Class
1st Lot 247 I Donnelly
2nd Lot 172 A Heffernan
3rd Lot 211 P Kenny
4th Lot 151 J &M Donohoe
5th Lot 212 P Kenny
6th Lot 354 A Cox
Femal Champion Lot 14 P & B Farrell
Reserve Female Champion Lot 77 P & J Murphy
Male Champion Lot 266 N Myles
Reserve Male Champion Lot 247 I Donnelly
Supreme Champion Lot 266 N Myles
Reserve Supreme Champion Lot 247 I Donnelly
