Towerhll Herd - Est 1984

     

Having always chosen a Simmental bull to run with his dairy herd Seamus decided to establish a Pedigree Herd in 1984 to breed his own bulls and sell surplus. With this Grangepark Miriam, a Herrscher daughter was purchased from Hibernian Livestock, Co. Kilkenny. In 1985 Island Natalie, a Hamlet daughter, was purchased from Alfred Sweetman, Mullinahone, Co. Tipperary. To this day the entire herd has been bred from just these two foundation females. 1985 saw the first pedigree registration under the prefix of Towerhill, which as planed was retained for use within the dairy herd. From this the Towerhill herd grew to about ten breeding females, running alongside the dairy herd. In 2008 having milked cows for the past forty years, Seamus decided it was time for a change in direction and dispersed his dairy herd. This has resulted in the Simmental herd growing to forty breeding females.

 

Seamus had shown both dairy and commercial cattle so when the Towerhill Herd was established it was always going to be a Show Herd. One of the first animals to be shown was Towerhill Winston, a Seabank Pedro son, won first place at Limerick show in 1989.  He was later purchased by Northern Ireland breeder Cecil Mcilwaine for his Corrick herd at just eight months old. Winston bred successfully within the Corrick herd and across Northern Ireland, siring the A.I. bull Corrick Competitor and features in the breeding of another AI bull, Woodhall Premier.

​​The first National title for the Towerhill Herd came when the  Hillcrest Butcher son Towerhill Edward won the All-Ireland Yearling Bull at the National Ploughing championship in Carlow in 1995 under UK judge Hugo Arnold, the then president of the British Simmental Society. Towerhill Romeo captured the National Bull Calf Championship at Strokestown Show in 2002 later selling to Kildare breeder Richard Farrell for his Bischopscourt herd

 

The Towerhill herd has been a keen supporter of the Tully performance testing Centre with Towerhill Nathan topping the Simmental breed in Spring 2003  and selling to NI breeder Malachy Hamill for his Kilcorn Herd in Portadown, Co Armagh.

 

Another first came in November 2011 at the Roscommon Premier sale when the ten month old Towerhill Christy  was purchased by Gerald Smith for his Drumsleed Herd in Aberdeenshire Scotland being the first animal exported to Mainland UK from the Towerhill Herd.

 

April  2015 saw Towerhill Emmet, a son of Celtic Benny, the herds successful herd sire, claim Champion Male at the Tullamore Spring Sale and was sold to the Heather-view Herd, Co Offaly. Celtic Benny was the first stock bull purchased privately from Martin Regan and has really left his mark on the herd.

Seamus has also sold to A.I. with Towerhill Freaky Friday a Curaheen Apostle son being purchased by Bova AI in September 2015.

 

Seamus has given freely of his time to both the South West club and the Society over the past thirty years, he became the longest serving Club Chairperson of the six clubs, serving as South West Chairperson for twenty years, he currently holds the position of Club President. Seamus also represented his club at National level, serving on council from 1996 to 2004, serving a term as Vice President during his time. He also worked as an inspector for the Society for sixteen years, from 1997 to 2013, covering sale and herd inspections. He enjoyed this opportunity to meet fellow breeders around the country. Seamus is a regular Judge at summer shows, having covered the length of the country and continues to enjoy doing so.

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