Pictured above: Lot No. 31: Drombanny Rogue sold for €5,300 – bred by Co. Limerick breeder Patrick Sheahan.
The third Irish Limousin Society spring sale of the year – the Athenry Bull Show and Sale – took place on Thursday, April 14th, at Athenry Mart, Co. Galway.
The show of bulls kicked off at 10:00am and there was positive ‘buzz’ around the show ring and the pens, with the sale commencing at 1:00pm. Of the 64 bulls catalogued, 52 were presented for sale of Thursday afternoon, with bulls selling to purchasers around the busy sale ring and online – leading to a 62% clearance rate.
The average price for the sale amounted to €3,415, with a number of bulls purchased for export to the UK. The top price of the day was secured by Drombanny Rogue, with the hammer falling at €5,300. This bull was bred by Co. Limerick breeder Patrick Sheahan.
Born in October 2020 – his dam is Drombanny Maple and he is sired by French maternal-tested sire, Jym – Rogue has 5-stars on both the Replacement and Terminal Index, while also carrying 5-stars for carcass weight and carcass conformation; he also hits 4-stars for docility.
The high prices didn’t stop there with another two bulls hitting €5,100 and €4,900. First up was Currane Ross – bred by Michael McKeown from Castlebar, Co. Mayo. His sire is Hirohito and his dam is Currane Milly and has a Replacement Index value of €112 (4-stars) and a Terminal Index value of €155 (5-stars). He also has 5-stars for carcass weight and conformation.
Additionally, lot number 20, Corcamore Real Deal – who was awarded first in his class – sold for €4,900; this bull was bred by Brendan Curtin from Clarina, Co. Limerick and has 5-stars on the Terminal Index and for carcass weight and conformation. Sired by Plumtree Fantastic, this bull had the lowest calving difficulty figure in the catalogue at 1.9% on beef cows.
Meath breeder Teleri Thomas secured €4,400 for her bull, Keltic Rowan. Sired by Tomschoice Lexicon, he has 5-stars on both the Replacement and Terminal Index, while also carrying 5-stars for carcass weight, carcass conformation and daughter milk.
The championship went to Co. Laois breeder, Thomas O’Shea, for his bull – Templequain Rambo ET – with the hammer falling at €4,300; he has Derrygullinane Kingbull and Gerrygullinane Glen in his sire stack.
The reserve champion was awarded to Lot number 38, Newtown Rolex. Bred by Stanley Richardson from Co. Leitrim, he sold for €4,200.
The top 10 priced bulls averaged €4,370 – selling from €3,700 up to €5,300. €5,000 was broken twice, with five bulls securing over €4,000, while 14 bulls made €3,000 or more.
Lot number 53, Fairhill Rust, went under the hammer for €4,100. Presented by Anthony Moloney, from Feakle, Co. Clare, Rust is sired by Ewdenvale Ivor and has 5-stars for Replacement and Terminal Index, carcass weight and carcass conformation.
Mayo breeder Noel Ruttledge secured €3,900 for his bull – Rutland Ryder , while Patrick O’Reilly sold Skealon Rocky for €3,800. This price was also paid for Brickhill Reuben, bred by Michael Mcinerney from Co. Clare.
The Irish Limousin Cattle Society would like to congratulate all breeders on a successful sale and wish all purchasers the very best of luck with their new bulls.
The society would also like to thank: Pat Feehily for judging the show; stewards Ann Hestor and William Smith; Athenry Mart; and to everyone that helped make the sale a success.
Here are some photos captured by photographer Alfie Shaw on the day.