Success for Lucy and her little lambs

ONE of the country’s youngest and most successful sheep farmers is a nine-year-old from Bantry. 

Lucy Harrington, from Newtown, cleaned up at the recent and prestigious Ram Lamb and Aged Ram Association Show and Sale at Mid-Kerry Co-Op Mart in Milltown, Co Kerry.  

Lucy, who is in fourth class in Our Lady of Mercy NS in Bantry, lives for her sheep, said her dad Tim. 

And, it paid off on the day when she won ‘Best Pair Ram Lamb,’ was third in ‘Best Wool’ and took overall fourth, seventh and eighth place.

Tim, who has a mixed flock of 450 ewes, said Lucy had worked really hard all year and was hugely interested in her black-faced Scotch sheep. 

‘She has her own sheep, knows them all and is really brilliant with them. She even dreams about them, especially Scotchie, the father of the pack,’ said her proud dad, a full-time sheep farmer.

He said Scotch sheep were an especially good-quality breed but that Lucy showed them all ‘tender, loving care,’ even getting up at night to help during lambing season. 

Her 10-year-old brother Patrick is also interested in sheep farming, especially the Texel breed, while seven-year-old sister Emma is focused on the Charollais members of their flock. 

Tim added: ‘A real sheep farmer will always recognise their sheep – and Lucy does, despite her age. She has the house full of rosettes and has a great personality at the shows where she gets great encouragement from the older farmers.’

Lucy has been gaining experience over the past two years, entering her animals at shows in the region, with considerable success and her ambition is to become a vet.