Watch: Kerry farmer shears 2,021 sheep in 50 hours for charity
A farmer from Co. Kerry said he is feeling "a bit stiff and sore" after shearing more than 2,000 sheep in 50 hours for charity.
James O'Connor, a sheep farmer from from Cloghane in west Kerry, completed his '50 Hours of Shear Craic' challenge at Dingle Mart yesterday evening (Sunday, July 6).
All money collected will be donated to the Kerry Hospice Foundation and the Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) Unit at St. Joseph’s National School in Castlemaine.
As part of the charity challenge James had sheared sheep in two-hour runs, separated by 30-minute breaks, since Thursday morning (July 3).
The farmer managed to get a few hours sleep each night in a motorhome parked outside the mart.
When the 50 hours had come to an end James, who had trained for 12 months with a personal trainer for the event, had sheared 2,021 sheep provided by local farmers.
"It was hard going, there were highs and lows. At the low times I probably thought I wasn't going to get to the 2,000 figure. It was a happy relief to get there in the end and I was delighted.
"It was a bit emotional to be honest, there's no point in saying any different. When you hit that number it definitely brings it to another level," James told Agriland.
The farmer was supported on the challenge by his wife, Stacey and his cousin Ilona O’Dowd, along with Roy and Jeff Collier, who were with him while he was shearing.
"Only for them, it was very hard to push through those hard times. I just thought of the reasons why I was doing it as well for - the kids in the school and the Kerry Hospice.
"You have to bring them to the front of your mind and put the pain and everything else to the back of your mind and just get on with it," James said.
A large crowd gathered at Dingle Mart to watch the last sheep being sheared.
"To be honest, I had tried to block it all out of my head as much as I could, but at the finish the mart was just electric.
"The crowd that was there was unbelievable. They really got behind me and pushed me on towards the end of it. It was just something else," James said.
He thanked the large team of people who helped to make the challenge possible including Dingle Mart, the farmers, hauliers and those who provided food and family entertainment.
Around €12,000 has been collected for the two worthy causes to date, with donations continuing to be accepted.
Members of the public are being encouraged to support the challenge in any capacity they can through the ’50 Hours of Shear Craic’ fundraising page on iDonate which remains open.
Despite his sore muscles, James told Agriland that he will be back shearing sheep as normal tomorrow after taking a well earned rest today.
