The largest show of Jacob sheep in Ireland

With over 100 Jacob sheep on display it was the largest turnout there has ever been at any show in Ireland of Jacob sheep. It’s hard to believe that 12 years ago there were no individual classes for Jacob sheep at any shows in the north of Ireland. The overall quality of the Jacob sheep in Ireland has risen dramatically and the membership numbers now are well over a 100 in comparison to a dozen 10 years ago. All this hard work was evident on Saturday with the quality of sheep on display from all the top breeders in Northern Ireland attending. Along with the unique style of the Jacob there was also power and strength on display and this has all come around because of all the hard work over the recent years by members breeding particular bloodlines and concentrating on the quality rather than just a black and white sheep.

Mr Wyn Harries who owns the Hope flock in Wales along with his wife Siwan travelled over to judge the 8 classes. With over 20 sheep in each class the judge had plenty to choose from. Mr Harries awarded champion to the Harkness flock (J Harkness) with his very strong homebred 2 horn shearling ewe (Sire – Beiliau Phantom, Dam – Harkness Ewe). Reserve champion was awarded to the Eglish flock (Dabhán and Thomas Harkin) with their lovely 4 horn ewe lamb (Sire – Hope Alfie, Dam – Homebred ewe by Dunmor Ace) and second reserve champion was awarded to the Kingarrow flock (Colhoun family) with their strong 2 horn homebred aged ram – Kingarrow Brook (Sire – Pard House Major, Dam – Kingarrow ewe). The shearling ram class was won by the Clogherney flock (Gareth and Cameron Kenwell) who picked up the first and second place rosettes with – Clogherney Cassius and Crumkill Ezekiel respectively. The ram lamb class was won by the Beltrim flock (Adrian Hamilton) with a strong two horn lamb (Sire – Grove Woody, Dam – Jep Lynch ewe). The aged ewe class was won by the Dunbreen flock (Anne Moore) with a powerful 2 horn ewe (Beltrim Eco, Dam – Beltrim ewe.

The pairs class was awarded to the Kingarrow flock with a pair of two horn ewe lambs and the Group of three was also awarded to the Kingarrow flock. A new trophy was presented by the Duke of Abercorn for the best group of three in memory of past member - Mr Jack Lynch who passed away a few years ago. There were two individual Jacob young handler classes for primary and secondary school children. Cameron Kenwell picked up the red rosette in the primary section and Sara Hamilton won the secondary section. Well done to all the young handlers who took part. A big thank you to all the sponsors who kindly donated money towards the prize fund at Omagh show. Their support is greatly appreciated.

The Northern Ireland official show and sale is on Saturday 13th August at Beatties pedigree centre, Omagh and there will be 150 pedigree Jacobs for sale and 50 non pedigree females. All pedigree sheep are inspected prior to the sale to make sure they adhere to the breed standard. This gives all potential buyers the assurance that they are buying Jacob sheep that are correct with the breed standard. Show 10.30am, Sale 12pm