For the second year in a row, one Longford farmer's lucky ewe has defied the odds to give birth to set of four healthy quadruplets.

The "unique" occasion took place last week on John Kiernan's farm, who keeps six ewes in addition to his typical suckler and forestry enterprise on his 120ac in Granard, Co. Longford, in an effort to curtail ragwort on the farm.

According to Kiernan, the ewe and her offspring are in "great nick" after the birth, with the mother once again proving to be more than capable of rearing all the lambs herself, without any assistance from the farmer.

Kiernan explained: "I thought it was pretty unique that this one had four on the trot, it's a lovely thing to see. She rears them all herself too, which is even more impressive.

"All I did was milk her out the first day and syringe 100ml to each of the calves. She was an elder runner and I thought the lambs would have difficulty sucking the teats because they're so big, but after that first feed they wouldn't even look at the bottle."

While Kiernan was not aware the ewe was expecting four lambs prior to the birth, he told Agriland he was not surprised by the outcome because of her track record of lambing multiples.

Last year, the same ewe also gave birth to quadruplets, all of whom she similarly reared herself, which Kiernan claims is quite exceptional in the sheep industry, where births of twins or more usually require the need for a foster ewe to be found.

The Co. Longford farmer whisked the prolific ewe off to the local veterinary clinic down the road once he came to the realisation that multiple lambs were in store yet again for the ewe.

"After last year's trouble, where every one of them presented wrong, as soon as I saw the water bag out I said I'd land her down to the local vet straight away for peace of mind. I was glad I did as the second two {sheep's] limbs were tangled up together.

"A young Greek man named Dimitri did the job - he had only started three months earlier and he was delighted with the four results. They were all the same size, with no dominant one or anything," Kiernan said.

Kiernan's pedigree Texel ram was named as the proud father, who Kiernan insisted was a character and notably "wouldn't win any beauty competitions".

"He's an awful ugly looking creature, he has a head on him like a cement block. If you go into the field with the bucket, he'd have something to say to you, he would come straight for you and if he bucked you, he could break your leg. He's really bold," he laughed.

While the quadruplets have yet to be named, the farmer believes it is only a matter of time before his grandchildren are bestowed with that privilege.

"I have a grandchild coming home from America next Sunday and a granddaughter coming up from Kerry soon, so no doubt they'll give them all names," Kiernan said.