A large crowd of buyers was drawn to Swatragh Livestock Market for the annual Dutch Spotted sheep society Christmas sale of in-lamb females and ewe lambs.

There was a strong entry of 50 lots made up of in-lamb aged ewes, in-lamb shearling ewes and empty ewe lambs.

Demand was high and prices remained very consistent throughout the entire sale, leading to an overall clearance rate of 76% and an average price of £890 (€1,073).

Ewe lambs

Having an extremely successful outing with her team of ewe lambs was Emma Allen of the Diamond flock.

Her success started early in the day in the show ring, with judge Brandon McClafferty picking out her lead ewe lamb Diamond Hoity Toity, as the first prizewinning ewe lamb and then overall show champion.

Hoity Toity then hit the sales ring, where there was a flurry of bids coming from ringside and online. After the fierce bidding, auctioneer Raymond O’Kane dropped the hammer at 3,200gns (€4,049). The successful purchaser was Chris Johnston of the well-known Johnstown flock.

Diamond Hoity Toity was followed directly after by her flock mate Diamond Harriet. Harriet was placed second in the strong ewe lamb class and she later sold for 1,950gns (€2,467) to English buyer Henry Jewitt.

The next-top-priced ewe lamb came from the Trainor family’s Binnian flock.

It was their lead ewe lamb Binnian Hunter, a daughter of Saveock Espresso Martini that took the second-top-priced ewe lamb spot after selling for 2,000gns (€2,530).

Robert Nelson was the successful bidder on this occasion and she will head to join his well-established Longfield flock.

In-lamb shearling ewes

Taking the top spot in the shearling ewe section was Willbraid Groovy Grace from the pen of Adam Donald.

Groovy Grace then went on to take the overall reserve champion spot. This massive shearling ewe sired by the much-admired import ram Ellipsis was scanned carrying twins.

She was sold for 2,100gns (€2,657) to James Johnston of the Broadwater flock.

Donald went on to sell his second in-lamb shearling ewe for 1,400gns (€1,771) directly after. This second in-lamb shearling was picked up by Stuart Henderson.

It was the third-prizewinning shearling ewe from Adam White that took the second-top price in the shearling ewe section.

The prizewinning shearling ewe was scanned carrying twins to Merryboro Grafter and she sold for 2,000gns (€2,530) to Eamon Toner.