Clon girls win national calf-rearing award

FOUR 6th year Clonakilty students were crowned winners of the inaugural Certified Irish Angus competition in Croke Park on Wednesday last. 

Sacred Heart Secondary School students Aoife Dullea, Laura Clancy, Meabhdh Sexton and Clionadh Condon emerged as the overall winners of a competition that started when they were in transition year and was run over two years. The girls reared five Irish Angus calves using the theme of sustainability. 

Under the guidance of teacher Brid Hennessy, the students worked tirelessly, producing a final project that captured the imagination of the judges. The calves were raised on the Condon farm at Ballinascarthy, following their official name-giving ceremony at Sacred Heart Secondary School in 2014 when they were just five months old. 

On the farm, they thrived under the diligent care of the students. The calves were regularly weighed to monitor weight gain, while the students had to demonstrate that the Angus breed could be sustainably reared to the time of slaughter without any compromise on quality and profit margin.  

In their own words, the girls’ rationale for entering the competition was: ‘Coming from a farming background, we wished to further develop our agricultural experience in order to gain an insight into what a career in agri and farming might require.’ 

They were joined in Dublin for the presentation ceremony by their teacher Brid Hennessy, school principal Anne Marie Brosnan and deputy principal Brendan Walsh.