By Rebecca Crockett
A FATHER and son’s Aberdeen Angus herd has been crowned the best in Ireland making them the first to bring the title to Donegal.
Charlie and his son Hugh McClafferty of Churchill won Best Small Herd in Ireland at the recent Irish Aberdeen Angus Association’s annual extravaganza.
Amazingly, the award came just three years after they bought their first Angus heifer.
The prize was awarded at the Extravaganza’s Saturday night gala on October 5 in Thurles, Tipperary. Charlie told the Donegal News that the win came as a complete shock for himself and Hugh.
“We were very surprised to win it because we were up against all the big boys,” he said.
“Aberdeen Angus isn’t that strong in Donegal but down south it’s massive.
“We started off with a five-year plan and we can’t believe that after just three years we have won the best small herd in the Republic of Ireland – we are just over the moon!”
The cattle farmer said his 13-year-old son Hugh’s “good eye for the right sort of cow” had certainly paid off as the pair have sold bulls to top dairy farms all over Donegal.
The McCaffertys placed third in the Irish Aberdeen Angus Association’s Connacht Donegal section when they first entered three years ago.
They have since won the section two years in a row and had their sights firmly set on the all-Ireland title.
Charlie said: “That sort of gave us the bite for it. In the last three years, we’ve built the herd up and it’s just gone from strength to strength. We’re really looking forward to moving on with it.”
McClafferty Angus isn’t the only venture the family has found success in. Charlie is a fifth-generation undertaker who manages McClafferty
Funeral Directors. It was for this very reason that they chose Aberdeen Angus cattle to breed.
He said: “We aren’t full-time farmers, we are funeral directors as well, so we wanted cows that were easy kept, easy calved and quiet. Since then, all our cows have now calved on their own.”
Now with the All-Ireland small herd title secured, and their five-year plan completed in three, what is next for father and son?
Charlie remains humble yet optimistic for the future: “We’re only going to be keeping ten cows, but we’re going to constantly keep improving the ten cows until we have the ten best cows that can be had.”
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