Sean O’Brien

Tullow, Co. Carlow

My name is Sean O’Brien and I am a fourth generation farmer, as well as being an ex-Ireland International and Leinster rugby player. I also toured with the British & Irish Lions twice (2013 & 2017) before I retired in 2022.

Farming has been part of my life for a long time. I started working on our farm in Tullow when I was five years of age, my grandfather and my father worked this farm before me, so it is a place where I really feel at home.

Since coming back to the farm, I have started to get into Herefords and I now run a calf to beef system. The Herefords are a great breed, the size and structure of the animal is a big attraction for me. They are also very docile which is great because knowing that the animal you’ll be dealing with is easy to handle is a huge plus. We have 25 cattle at the moment and we’ll be adding to that over the next few months.

Herefords are something that I’ve been wanting to get into for a while. Hereford Beef is a prime cut and everyone likes a good steak, including me. There’s a lot to learn, but I have a great neighbour who has had Herefords for a long time, so I’ll be asking him for a lot of advice in the coming months. The last few months have been exciting, watching the cattle grow, I have them on the fields as early as possible, but it all depends on the weather. Going forward I aim to create a paddock system on the farm and make as high a quality grass silage as I can.

Eighteen months ago, we planted over 200 trees in both hardwoods and softwoods around the farm. I think that it’s something that is very important, finding out how we can best implement sustainable strategies and be more sustainable on the farm.