Sam Matchett’s Rosie proved to be unbeatable in every class that she stepped into at Fermanagh County Show at the 200ac Castle Irvine Estate on Saturday, August 12th, 2023.
The Portadown native, who officiated as one of the cattle judges at Bonniconlon Agricultural Show in Co Mayo, on Bank Holiday Monday, rounded off a remarkable show season with five allocates at this event with his ROI-bred March 28th, 2022-born Belgian Blue Sultan daughter.
Pearse McNamee, from Co Donegal, bred the heifer, which Matchett purchased at the 2022 Carrick Winter Fair, last November.
Sam took first place in the store heifer class sponsored by Boehringer Ingelheim, was tapped out as store champion as sponsored by the same firm and was top of the line in the class breeding heifer most suitable to breed a show calf winner, which was regarded by many as the event’s most hotly contested class and was sponsored by MCV Competitions.
She won the heifer championship, which was confined to winners of heifer classes, securing the Mitchell Cup.
To round off her day, Rosie was tapped out as the supreme commercial champion of champions, sponsored by T Dickey and Co, who donated £250 for the winner of this class, which also received the Collum John Graham Memorial Cup.
About the show
A whopping £2,850 of a prize money cash pot was up for grabs across various commercial cattle classes at Fermanagh County Show this summer.
The show, with a history dating back to 1836, saw a format change t with new weekend dates and a new venue in a hotly-anticipated full-scale return.
County Fermanagh Farming Society LTD staged the premier agricultural event at Castle Irvine Estate, Necarne, Demense, Irvinestown, across two days on Friday, August 11th, and Saturday, August 12th.
The last full Fermanagh County Show, prior to this, took place in 2019, with a scaled-back event taking place last August.
This year’s show included a full programme of pedigree and commercial cattle, sheep, goats, poultry, dogs, schools, home industries and a larger food pavilion.
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