The Irish Hereford Breed Society (IHBS) hosted a show and sale of pedigree Hereford bulls at Central Auctions in Nenagh, Co. Tipperary, on Thursday, April 3.

According to the society, following the strong demand for bulls at the Hereford Spring Premier Show and Sale at GVM Tullamore Mart in Co. Offaly, and a strong demand for bulls in breeders yards at home, there was only 24 bulls present on the day.

The average price of the sale was €4,444.44, which was up from the 2024 average sale price of of €3,700. There was a clearance rate of 75% in the sale.

A total of 12 bulls on offer in the sale made €4,000 or more and five of these sold for €5,000 and above.

Daniel Lehane from the Kilronan Hereford herd in west Cork was tasked with judging the bulls in the pre-sale show.

His choice of champion was Ardmulchan Volcano HH from the Co. Meath herd of Philip and Catherine Smyth.

The Champion bull was sired by Ballinveney Tiger and bred from homebred dam, Ardmulchan Clover 904, Volcano went on to sell for €4,600.

The judge awarded the Reserve Champion title to Ballinalick Marvel 2 HH from William Duff’s Co. Tipperary herd.

Marvel was sired by Quinsboro Marvel 1st and bred from Quinsboroo Haven 3rd. The bull was placed second in Class 3 and was then tapped out as the Reserve Champion before selling for €5,000.

The top price of the sale was paid for John Appelbe’s Appel 1 Powerhouse PH making €7,800.

Sired by Solpoll 1 Lawman and out of Kingsgrovepoll 1 Han Josie, Powerhouse sold with a great page of figures, with 5 stars for both the Replacement and Terminal Indexes, and sold to pedigree breeder Kathleen Nelligan from Castleisland, Co. Kerry.

The next-best price on the day was €6,100 for Mullaghey 1 Maurice HH, sold by Rory Farrell, Co. Tipperary.

Originally bred by Larry Carpenter from Co. Meath, Maurice is sired by Corlismore Cormac 076 and out of Mullaghey 1 Sarah 2.

This homozygous horned bull has 5 stars for both the Terminal Index and the Beef Sub-Index of the Dairy Beef Index (DBI). He sold to a Co. Tipperary-based dairy farmer.

There were a further two bulls that sold for €5,000, both coming from Maurice Geary’s Dromona herd in Co. Limerick.

Making €5,000 was Dromona Wizard 1003 ET HH. The bull placed first in Class 2 of the pre-sale show. He has 4-stars on the Replacement Index and 5-stars for the Terminal Index with a 5-star Beef Sub-Index on the DBI of €110.

He is sired by Haven Wizard and out of Dromona Buttercup 845.

Dromona General 1005 HH, sired by Border General V85 and out of Dromona Prettymaid 963, also sold for €5,000.

Again, he had plenty of stars, with 5 stars for each of the Terminal Indexes, a (Dairy Beef Index) DBI value of €126 and a Beef Sub-Index on the DBI of €110.

Thomas McDermott’s Carrabane Sebastien HH sold for €4,600. He too has plenty of figures, with 4–stars for each of the Replacement, Terminal and Dairy-Beef Indexes, and 5-stars for the Beef Sub-Index. Sebastien is sired by Ballinveney United 2 and out of Balleen Gladys 81092.

Padraig McGrath’s Kye Commander 042 HH sold for €4,100. He has 5-stars for the Terminal Index and a DBI of €119. Commander is sired by Corlismore Commander 080 and out of Kye Holly 821.

A further four bulls sold for €4,000 during the sale, including:

Glaslough Atlantic HH from Nigel Heatrick’s Co. Monaghan herd. Atlantic is sired by Balleen Hitman and out of Glaslough Valmai;
Boveen Xander HH from Joe O’Connor’s Co. Offaly herd. Xander is sired by Gurtaleen Inch Fortune and out of Boveen Stately 33rd;
Ballinveney General HH from Rory Farrell’s Co. Tipperary herd. General has 5-stars for Age at Slaughter (-22.1 Days). He is sired by Mawarra Sentimental ET1 HYF and is out of Ballinveney Fancy;
Glaslough Bruno HH from Nigel Heatrick’s Co. Monaghan herd. Bruno has 4–stars for the Terminal Index and for the Beef Sub-Index of the DBI. He is sired by Balleen Hitman and out of Glaslough Trixie.

The IHBS expressed its thanks thanks to the pre-sale inspector Tommy Fitzgerald; the show judge, Daniel Lehane; sale auctioneer, Eamonn Gaffney; Central Auctions Nenagh; and Irish Hereford Prime for its sponsorship of the event.