The family have been farming in Castledermot, Co. Kildare since our grandparents Pat and Rosaleen Murphy moved here in the 1960’s having previously farmed in Co. Kilkenny and managed farms in Co. Meath.The main enterprise up until its dispersal in 1996 was a British Friesian Dairy herd. However, from the beginning, the ”Castledermot” flock of Suffolk sheep was also a permanent and important part of the business. Pat was at his happiest working with his beloved Suffolk sheep and thoroughly enjoyed meeting both old and new friends through his work with the breed. His greatest satisfaction came from seeing breeding stock he’d sold do well for their new owners and was always on hand to offer advice.

When our father Padraig came of age the Suffolk flock reached a new level. Dad regularly travelled to Scotland to source new genetics and he worked tirelessly to promote the breed and flock.Dad was widely recognised as a keen showman and the Castledermot flock won every major show throughout the country as well as Premier Sale championships and Female of the Year titles. In the mid 1980’s the ”Goldhill” herd of charolais cattle was established as dad sought a new challenge.

In recent years the third generation of Murphys have entered the game and continued the family tradition. A herd of Limousin cattle and flock of Texel sheep have been established. However, the greatest change has come in the way we run our sheep enterprise. All Suffolk & Texel ewes begin lambing in late March and we sell grass reared shearling rams the following year.The lack of meal feeding means we no longer compete at shows but we’ve been greatly encouraged by the number of repeat customers who happily return annually for our hardy rams that serve many ewes and thrive on and last for many years. We’ve a system that works and we continue to strive to improve the genetics of the sheep we produce.

Barry & Graham Murphy