Wearing the Irish jersey at the world sheep shearing championships is something that Denis O’Sullivan has been aspiring to throughout his career. But he has had to make sacrifices along the way, including leaving his job as a lecturer in Clonakilty Agricultural College.
Wearing the Irish jersey at the world sheep shearing championships is something that Denis O’Sullivan has been aspiring to throughout his career.
But he has had to make sacrifices along the way, including leaving his job as a lecturer in Clonakilty Agricultural College.
“I suppose my heart was in shearing and to be up to the calibre of the likes of the world championships you need to be at it full-time, so I decided to pack it in with Teagasc and travel and shear full-time,” the Kerryman told the Irish Farmers Journal.
Commitment to the cause
Such is the commitment to the cause, that Denis is working with a diet planner and fitness coach to make sure he’s at the top of his game.
“At this level, you are heading towards full focus and commitment.
"I started training in October and the diet is very strict.
"I’m definitely seeing dividends from it.
"I feel better, way more energetic, more power through the day.
"Shearing 350 to 400 a day is no hassle now with the level of fitness that I’m at.
“We’d be doing less cardio, more flexibility exercises. Yoga and that kind of thing.”
Shearing is in the family and Denis’s mother is currently the Queen of the Shears and holds 13 all-Ireland titles.
His fiancée is also shearing, meaning they can travel and work together.
Team for France
Denis is on the Irish team that will be heading to the World Shearing and Woolhandling Championships 2019 in Le Dorat, France, this July.
He is on the open machine team with three-time world record holder Ivan Scott.
“It’s a great honour to be able represent my country, it’s something I’ve been aspiring to all my shearing career.
"It’s going to be a really good competition against some of the world’s best.
"The competition is going to be fierce, there’s great shearers coming over from New Zealand and Australia.
"I’ve seen the calibre they are at and it’s going to be tough.”
The 2019 Irish sheep shearing team
Open machine
Denis O'Sullivan and Ivan Scott.
Blade
Peter Heraty and Martin Hopkins.
Team manager
Eileen Coffey.
Judges
Tom Dunne and Colin Crowe.
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