Northern Ireland Support Group

Thomas Cole - Event Coordinator

My education lead to me qualifying as a medical practitioner specialising in Ophthalmology (eyes). This was my main interest from the mid seventies until the late eighties.
 My first interest in  the keeping of Rare Breeds was kindled in the eighties when a good friend chose to import Lincoln Longwool sheep from England .  I even visited her exhibit at Balmoral to deliver grass!
 It was only later that I realised that the only way that I could be 'outstanding in my own field' would be if I owned the field!
 In 1990 my wife and I bought a small farm and moved from life 'in the big smoke' to Rockcrest Farm.   My plan had been to keep some Rare Breed sheep 'for fun'.  Due to a change in my circumstances I expanded up to >70 breeding ewes 6cows with followers and various poultry.
 By 1996 I was ready to get my first Rare Breed sheep. In order to expand the genetic base I sought to import breeds which were not already here and thus increase the genetic diversity.   (My earlier efforts were confined to cross breeds.)  I now have 4 distinct breeds of Rare Breed sheep and had my first Irish Moiled cross calf was born this year.  I no longer have any crossbreed sheep.  I have introduced three breeds and reintroduced the other to Northern Ireland.  I see potential for my breeds in the commercial market. I keep Oxford Downs (the biggest of the down breeds), Leicester Longwools (both white and black- these are the basic building blocks for many of the 'modern breeds') and Castlemilk Moorits which I believe were the product of a somewhat eccentric Scotsman from Lockerbie.
 Over the last 15 years I have been fortunate to become associated with several people who have given me freely of their time and knowledge. I must particularly acknowledge Jim Dickson and Raymond Beckett who are both now dead. I now feel that the least I can do is pass on to anyone who is interested the information it has been my privilege to gain from these and other generous people. 

 

Conor Doherty—Secretary
A note about your Secretary from your Secretary……

I live and work in Belfast during the week, but am lucky enough to have a smallholding in the foothills of the Sperrin Mountains outside Strabane in the townland of ‘Silverhill’.

It is here I keep the Silverhill flock of Norfolk Horns established in 2003. Numbers are increasing, with 4 rams and 20 breeding females plus the lamb crop from this year. I sourced my stock from 6 different flocks in England. I have devised a breeding programme with the help of the Norfolk Horn Breeders’ Group and ‘Geneped’ a computer program that deals with kinships and in-breeding and I have a picture of a ‘perfect’ Norfolk Horn in my head and that is what I am striving to produce….watch this space!

The Norfolk Horn, classified as ‘vulnerable’ by the RBST, is a hardy and thrifty type, originally bred to graze the dry heathland of East Anglia. It is a medium sized sheep, long legged, with black or dark face and legs. The wool should be close and free from dark patches. Both sexes are strongly horned, with an outward spiral. It is an easy-lambing breed with good maternal instincts.

I would be interested to talk to anyone who will listen about Norfolk Horns and can recommend the breed and the Breeders’ Group.

I will leave you with the Secretary’s details:

Conor Doherty
9 Ardenlee Green, Ravenhill Green, BELFAST BT6 8QF
Tel: 028 90453549 Email: conorinbelfast@yahoo.co.uk

Olive Mercer - Sheep Convenor

For several years my employment offered me the opportunity to help people who in many ways felt they were less fortunate than others. Their skills were no longer appreciated or needed in a modern work force, however after training and development they were often able to return to work and rebuild their self-esteem.
Indeed, with respect they found themselves in a similar situation to our Rare Breed animals, which have many valuable attributes that simply need to be honed to meet the current demands of the farmer and his customers. We as keepers of all Rare Breed species have a responsibility to ensure we develop them to their full potential and educate others as to how they can compliment the needs of modern day farming. Since the formation of our first pedigree flock nearly 25 years ago my life has revolved around topics such as “worm-burdens”, “orf” “ clostridial diseases” and latterly “scrapie geno-typing”. In addition to appreciating their commercial attributes my main reason for deciding to establish a Teeswater flock is because I like them. On a positive note sheep have been the conduit for many enjoyable social opportunities to meet other “sheep people” including several judging appointments in England, Wales and throughout Ireland.

Stefan Smyth

I joined the RBST at the first Cultra show. My first “Rare Breed” purchase was a saddleback gilt from Vaughan Byrne, previous to that I had bred commercial pig breeds. I live in the Holywood hills, my main business being in the form of a herd of Suckler cows and finishing Aberdeen Angus and Belted Galloways on my 160 acre farm. When I’m not farming you’ll find me at the Ulster Folk and Transport museum where I work part-time.

Gavin Goodman—Public Relations Officer

Let me tell you a story, well perhaps not. Coming home from work one day I’d had enough. Not of work or of my family and friends but I’d had enough of thinking about work after work. Every problem at work would come home with me and I felt as though I had no free time. So my wife and I had a chat and seeing that we already had a farm (well 25 acres of land that had seen use as a farm when rationing was still in force) we decided to do something with it. Browsing the internet one evening we found a book on Self-Sufficiency by (the now late RIP) John Seymour and we duly bought it. This book was (and still is) a fascinating “how-to” on anything to do with a patch of land. Among the many gems was how to clear and re-cultivate disused land using Goats and Pigs. Soon afterwards Sally came to live with us (a white Saanen goat) and she was put to use at eating brambles and nettles. Once Sally had had her fill (and her companion Bertie—who shortly followed Sally) we decided to look at getting some pigs.
Now not being farming folk (my wife is a nurse and I’m an IT Manager—aka Computer Geek) we decided to browse the ‘net for pigs and found pigs that 1) we liked the look of, and, 2) were rare and unusual. This resulted in Tamworths and a further search on the ‘net resulted in the people to contact—a Mr & Mrs Wheatley-Hubbard in Wiltshire. A quick email later and we were sent a further five contacts in N.I. and the first one to answer the phone was Vaughan Byrne. A few phone calls later and Vaughan had sourced two gilts and a boar. We well and truly caught the bug and are now running with five sows and two boars. All our breeding stock have pet names and like nothing more than a cuddle and a belly rub—it’s surprising how a fully grown Tamworth boar responds to a kind word and a cuddle !
To diversify things we sourced some sheep - roughly following the guidelines we had for the pigs with the addition that they had to be to some extent “maintenance free”. This in turn resulted in contact with George Dallas near Coleraine and in turn we picked up a “mixed bag” of Soay’s. Now to say we were naïve was an understatement! My idea of animal containment was a patch of land surrounded by electric fencing (which works fine with the piggies) - sure it contained the Soay’s—for the first ten minutes ! Thereafter followed wild Soay hunts until eventually the tumble down stone walls were reinforced with stock proof fencing - you could tell we weren’t farmers !