A strong trade for Limousins was witnessed at Roscrea Mart on Monday (May 3), as bulls met a good demand at the Irish Limousin Cattle Society sale.

It can be an easy observation to state that lower numbers presented of 39, out of the 60 bulls catalogued, aided prices due a reduced selection. Nevertheless, farmers in need of a new sire were willing to open the cheque book for the bull that ticked their boxes.

Males cleared with a respectable average price of €3,650 for the 33 bulls - which saw the auctioneer's hammer drop.

Topping the sale on Monday was the October 2019-born Grangeford Paulo Maldini (et) who sold for €6,800.

The bull was exhibited by Gary Morrissey from Bennekerry in Co. Carlow and is sired by Wilodge Cerberus. Maldini's genetic dam originated from the UK in the form of Procters Ena who is sired by Haltcliffe Vermount.

This bull sold with a calving ease figure of just +4.5% on matings with beef cows, and will set sail to the Garnedd herd of based in Wales.

There was a flurry of bids when Ballinrahin Patsy (et) entered the ring - with the final call arriving at €6,100.

Shown by Michael Malone from Co. Laois, this bull was out of a home-bred sire Ballinrahin Kent Et. Bulls such as Wilodge Cerberus and Sympa can be found in Patsy's maternal back pedigree.

Patsy had a catalogue full of stars which ranked him with €108 on the replacement index and €189 on the terminal index. He was purchased by a farmer from Craughwell in Co. Galway.

Westmeath breeder Tony Harnett from Athlone, secured a price of €5,900 for Clonbonny Plumtree.

Taking his father's name, this December-2019 born bull is sired by Plumtree Fantastic and out of home-bred dam sired by Gamin.

He also had an impressive set of indices to match as he was ranked with €162 on the terminal index and €130 on the replacement index. A farmer from Ballinasloe in Co. Galway was the final bidder on this occasion.

Another Plumtree Fantastic son took the next highest price of €4,600 for breeder Gerald Wall from Co. Laois.

The 13-month-old Castlefleming Red Diesel was also out of a Towthorpe Dubai-sired dam. He carries two copies of the F94L myostatin gene alongside a calving ease figure of +3.3% on matings with beef cows. Red Diesel found his new home on a farm in Johnstown, Co. Kilkenny.

The Clonbonny herd was back in the headlines once again as they sold Clonbonny Rocky for €4,500.

Rocky completed the consecutive hattrick of Plumtree Fantastic sons achieving top prices. This January 2020-born bull boasted a terminal index figure of €145 and a calving ease figure of +4.5% on matings with beef cows. Rocky caught the eye of a farmer from Ennis in Co. Clare.

There was a 100% clearance rate for the 16 Limousin heifers presented for sale on Monday. The average price achieved for the females on offer tallied to just shy of €3,300.

Topping the trade of heifers at €6,300 was a daughter of Sympa exhibited by Martina Browne from Co. Longford.

The October 2019-born Catronfree Priceless (et) is a maternal granddaughter of Wilodge Vantastic. She was exported to Northern Ireland to a farm in Co. Derry after Monday's sale.

The success continued for the Catronfree herd as they sold Catronfree Pearl (et) for the second highest female price of €4,400. Being a maternal sister to the aforementioned Priceless, Pearle was sired by Ronick Hawk and purchased by a farmer from Maynooth in Co. Kildare.

Michael Brady from Co. Longford sold Copperdoor Pandora for a price tag of €3,800.

The sire this time was Grangeford Jojo (et), with bulls such as Arita-Ben and Ferry also being found in her maternal back pedigree. Pandora was secured by a pedigree herd from Co. Down.