One positive feature of this year’s Armagh Show was the turn-out of young handlers across all the competition sections of the event: beef cattle, dairy, sheep and goats.
Marjorie Blackburn, from the Irish Shows Association, commented: “We had a record turnout of sheep for this year’s event, with 1,150 animals catalogued.
“Adding to all of this was the tremendous participation of young handlers.
“All of this bodes well for the future of the sheep sector.”
The Beef Inter-Breed Championship at Armagh Show 2026 was won by Crawford Brothers, with their truly eye-catching Limousin cow and calf. The accolade adds to their previous inter-breed titles won at Ballymena and Lurgan Shows.
Raymond Irvine, from the Highlands of Scotland, judged the beef inter-breed classes at Armagh Show.
He referred to his overall champion as an elite example of the Limousin breed.
He added: “She has tremendous presence with an excellent head and tremendous mobility.
The fact that she has a calf at foot reflects on her ability to perform well as a breeding cow.
“The overall quality of the beef cattle entered for the show was excellent. And this bodes well for the future of the livestock sector in Northern Ireland.”
The Sheep Inter-Breed Championship at Armagh was won by Co. Down Suffolk breeder, Mark Priestly, with a striking shearling ewe.
The class was judged by Co. Monaghan flock-owner, Malachy McMeel. He referenced his champion as a tremendous example of the Suffolk breed, adding:
“The quality of the sheep competing at the show was excellent, across the board.”
Dairy
Meanwhile, Armagh Show is now vying with Balmoral as a premier competition venue for pedigree dairy cattle.
This principle is reflected in both the number of stock coming into the show rings and their quality.
Judging of the various dairy classes held at the 2026 Gosford Park venue continued long into the afternoon. But it was well worth the wait.
The Inter-Breed Champion can be best described an elite dairy cow - a calved heifer, in fact: only 26 months-of-age.
Slatabogie Energy Twine calved for the first time at the beginning of May. Following what can only be described as a tremendous show career as a heifer, she swept the board at Armagh Show 2026.
Inter-breed judge, Martin Millar, described his champion as having tremendous dairy potential.
He said: “She has a tremendous breeding future and will mature into a very special dairy cow.”
The Slatabogie herd is owned by the Paul family, who farm on the outskirts of Maghera.
Alan Paul commented: “The heifer is currently giving 48L of milk per day.
"She was inseminated a few days ago. Our objective is to get her back in calf as quickly as possible.”