Royal Three Counties Show, [Date] 13/06/2026
It was a great honour to be invited to judge the Irish Moiled section at this year’s Royal Three Counties Show. I would like to thank the organisers and exhibitors for a well-presented turnout of cattle, which were a credit to this native and distinctive breed.
Overall Standard
The classes were generally well supported, with cattle displaying the key characteristics of the Irish Moiled breed, including good breed markings, strong functional conformation and the docility and presence expected of such a traditional dual-purpose animal.
Bulls
A small class of bulls on the day. The winning bull Ballycreggy Brian owned and Exhibited by Andrew Stone combined depth of body and width through the chest with correctness on his feet and legs, showing breed character and very much in his working clothes went on to take male champion and reserve overall.
Cows / Cow & Calf
A particularly strong class, with females demonstrating excellent maternal qualities. My winner Betton Darcie Exhibited for breeder Nathalie Chitty by Keady View livestock. This cow stood out with a well-attached udder, good teat placement and the capacity and fleshing expected of a functional suckler cow she had a good rump structure and was doing well to her young bull calf.
The runner up was Birdwood Gigi Bred and Exhibited by Cian Elliott ,a very well-proportioned in calf cow full of breed character great Locomotion and style.She will definitely be one to watch for the future.
Junior Heifers
The Junior heifer classes turned out to be one of the strongest classes of the day with five very promising future breeding females. The top heifer Birdwood Gigi 2 combined femininity with strength, showing correct breed type, good locomotion exceptional tracking and the frame to develop into a very productive cow. She went on to win Female and Overall Breed Champion
A very close second place was Bretton Dahalla bred by Nathalie Chitty and again shown by Keady view Livestock. Showed great depth of body and the capacity to become a great breeding cow that will go on to represent the breed well in the future she went on to take Reserve Female Champion Just in front of Betton Darcie.
Senior Heifer class
Again a small class but it didn’t take away from the quality of the winner Woodhouse Primrose Bred and Exhibited by Andrew Stone .
This was a very correct young heifer full of breed character with a great developing udder and sound feet and legs. If she had been in slightly better condition, she may well have featured in the later classes.
Pairs classes
There was a great turn out for the pair of animals class but one pair stood out ,owned by Cian Ellitt and Exhibited by Annabelle Tytler and Olivia Hayward they were two beautiful young heifers full of breed character and a near perfect match. The winner of the pair of heifers class was exhibited by Mr Lolld Branston and Andrew stone .
Champion
My Champion Birdwood Gigi 2 came from the heifer class, the strongest of the day, and an outstanding example of the breed. She caught my eye the moment she entered the ring. Combing strong breed character with excellent conformation, standing on correct feet and legs tracking beautiful and showing the balance and presence required to be a Champion. She is a true representation of the Irish Moiled as a functional and efficient dual purpose animal with a great future ahead of her.
Reserve Champion
The Reserve Champion Ballycreggy Brian was a close contender, just lacking the overall maturity/finish of a show animal but showing excellent potential for the future.
Closing Remarks
It was encouraging to see the quality and consistency of cattle on display, reflecting the continued progress of the breed. Thank you to all exhibitors for their efforts and for presenting cattle that are a great credit to the Irish Moiled breed. I thoroughly enjoyed the day and it was a great learning curve being part of a different showing scene .A special thank you to Lyn Arrowsmith shadowing me for the day,bringing great input and insight to the day.
Brian O’Kane
