Shauna the sheep is bringing joy to elderly people in Kinsale Community Hospital where the ewe’s gentle nature has proven to be a source of comfort and joy to the residents.
Her owner, part-time sheep farmer, Lilian Gash, decked her out in festive attire for her Christmas visit to the hospital. Lilian said that the ewe always puts a smile on residents’ faces.
One man who has dementia and who had been unsettled, has found great comfort from interacting with Shauna, Lilian said.
“There are a lot of country people in the hospital and they miss their animals. They love to see Shauna and talk about farming topics such as silage, lambing and calving.
“They have also enjoyed bottle feeding lambs over the years. It’s therapy for myself, never mind the residents as I know I’m doing something worthwhile,” she smiled.
“Shauna is one in a million. She gave me three sets of triplets, two sets of twins and a single lamb over the years, and is very placid. She goes up to residents in their beds and puts her head on the bed. She lets them rub her and it lifts their spirits,” she added.
Lilian works as a care assistant, doing night duty in the hospital as well as keeping a flock of 40 sheep, running Kittycove boarding cattery and caring for her mother who has dementia.
She farmed alongside her father for many years and attended Rockwell Agricultural College. After her return home, she married a farmer but the marriage didn’t work out.
In the meantime, her father had sold the farm: “I was the baby of three girls and all I knew all my life was farming so my life was upside down.
“I did farm management with the farm apprenticeship board and worked in Midleton, Glanmire and Donoughamore, on farms for three years,” she said.
“However, it was hard to be a woman in farming 25 years ago. You would never be offered the good jobs. You had to be better than a man to be accepted. Things have changed now. I was at a crossroads.
“I got a site at home and kept at farming and then changed direction, working with the physically disabled for 10 years. Then I opened the boarding cattery and was involved in horse rescue,” Lillian said.
Over the years Lilian turned her hand to everything from AI to hoof paring. After starting work in Kinsale Community Hospital, she started bringing in her animals to the patients.
The motley crew included a Shetland pony, a goat, chicks and hens and lambs.
“When I started doing that, people said I should do therapy animals as a business, but I do it from the heart. It can be a long day for patients. They live though you so I’m glad that my love of animals is bringing joy into their lives.”