EU recognises extraordinary Cavan woman

Margaret Farrelly’s story is an extraordinary one. Now, her foresight and hard work has been recognised by the EU as outright winner of the prestigious EU women farmers innovation award.

In describing her reaction to the win: “The shock turned to amazement for being recognised for doing what I take for granted. Tears well up when I think of it. I never had a vision of growing the business to what it is today. I just kept going, putting one foot in front of the other.”

This journey began back in 1983 when Margaret Fegan married Leo Farrelly and moved to live with him on a 16ha dairy farm with 10 cows in Mullagh on the border of Cavan and Meath.

“Having worked in a bank, it didn’t take me long to realise that the income from the dairy farm wouldn’t make ends meet, so I looked around to see what could be done. Many farming families keep a few hens and so in 1987 we invested in 150 laying hens and began supplying a local packer.”

What makes Margaret such an inspiration is that she turned these 150 free-range hens into a business with a turnover of €6.2m in 2015.

The original 150 hens have now grown to 168,000 free-range hens, of which 8,700 are on Margaret and Leo’s farm. And what’s even more amazing is that the business is now supplementing the incomes of an additional 22 local farmers who are contracted to supply her with the eggs of 160,000 free-range hens.

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Constant innovation

“Demand for our free-range egg grew rapidly and we branched out to pack and sell eggs to a wider region, including Dublin. At the time, the concept of free-range hens was relatively new to Ireland and we were pioneers in the sector.”

In 2000, Margaret developed the mega egg to tap into new markets focusing on healthy living. The mega egg is a free-range egg that is naturally enriched with omega 3, selenium and vitamin E through the hens’ diets.

She was the first to introduce coloured packaging for eggs to Irish supermarket shelves, making her O’Egg brand stand out. The O stands for outdoor.

“In 2009, we identified a gap in the market among ethnic groups in Ireland for white shelled eggs and so we branched out by introducing white hens to provide for that market.

“The trend to healthy convenience food saw us solve the problem of unsaleable, very small and very large eggs. In 2012 we were the first to introduce a range of pasteurised egg products to supermarkets.”

In 2012, Margaret started the first egg pasteurisation plant in the country and now supplies bottled eggs to most of Ireland’s main supermarket chains. The next three years will see the biggest investment yet in state-of-the-art production facilities

Building locally

Twenty-two farmers are contracted to supply Clonarn Clover with free-range eggs. These farmers are being supported to complete a poultry educational programme, which includes course work in the University of Scotland in Ayr.

Sustainability was always at the forefront when planning for growth in this business. To that end, Margaret embarked on a mission to implement Bord Bia’s Origin Green programme. The business was the first in Co Cavan, the first in its sector and only the 21st business in the country to become a fully accredited member of the programme in 2012.

Clonarn Clover took part in a FUSION Programme from 2007-2009 whereby a food engineering graduate joined the business. This has resulted in the business having a research and development department implementing new product innovation. This includes work on pasteurised eggs, with plans to further develop new products from this source.

While in the past certain systems of intensive egg production have been the brunt of negative publicity, Margaret has positively encouraged visitor interaction on her farm. She believes this transparency is essential to eliminate any consumer concern.

Brand awareness is promoted with the active use of social media, including Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. This allows the business to communicate directly with the consumer.

Big boost to local area

In 28 years, turnover has grown from zero to €6.2m, which is a huge boost to the local economy. In a rural area where jobs are scarce, Clonarn Clover employs a total of 33 full- and part-time staff and 170ha of land is now taken up with free-range egg production.

Giving back

Having lost a sister and close relatives to cancer, for the past five years Margaret has contributed 5c from selected O’Egg packs to help cancer charities, including Aoibheann’s Pink Tie, which helps the families of children with cancer. Her down-to-earth and easy going nature led to an invitation to take part in The Secret Millionaire on RTÉ.

In recognition of her success in 2013, Margaret was named Cavan person of the year. In 2015 she was judged the winner of the innovation category of the FBD Women & Agriculture Awards. She was also the regional winner of the Food & Drink awards with Ulster Bank.

Deep faith in power of Medjugorje

Ever since their first visit in 2003, Margaret and Leo have a deep faith in the power of Medjugorje.

“It’s something you have to experience for yourself. When I first went there, I experienced this deep, deep feeling that I could leave everything in God’s hands. It is a marvellous grace.

Margaret and Leo now escort tours to the pilgrimage site and she recommends The Hidden Child of Medjugorje by Sr Emmanuel if you want to know more. CL

>> Fact box

Family: Married to Leo with four adult children – Aileen, Killian and Edel who work in the business, while Annmarie works in Australia.

Film/TV: I love Tom and Jerry cartoons and anything with Lucile Ball. I also like Fair City but rarely get to see it.

Music: Anything country, especially Mike Denver.

Holidays: When the children were small, the most we had was an overnight in Bundoran. We celebrated our 25th wedding anniversary with a coach trip to Prague, Vienna and Budapest and it was lovely. We’ve also been with Daniel O’Donnell on his Caribbean cruise.