My friendship with Joe Gilfillan started off in 1998 at Longford county show. I was 16 and Longford was the first show I brought the first Charolais heifer I ever owned to.
Sick with nerves, Joe tapped me out first in a strong class. I was delighted. I had watched Joe Gilfillan’s animals achieve the highest prices at sales for years before that and to be talking to him about breeding cattle and the finer points of animals at the top of the line was the highlight of that summer.
Over the years, we would chat at sales and in 2009 I got a phone call from him to say that he wished to co-opt me on to the Charolais council.
It was a great honour to serve on the Charolais council with him and I learnt a lot during that time.
Joe was always two steps ahead and was a wealth of knowledge about the Charolais breed.
Driving with him anywhere was a pleasure. Story after story about cattle and farming, in general, would be told.
Joe didn’t just talk about Charolais cattle – he lived them
Joe was a top-class storyteller and he could recall things which happened in the 1970s as if it were yesterday.
He took particular delight in regaling stories about his good friend John Dillon, some of which are repeatable and some not.
Joe didn’t just talk about Charolais cattle – he lived them. Looking back through some Irish Farmers Journal archives, I came across a photo of him at the autumn show and sale of bull weanlings in Elphin in September 2017.
Joe bought 36 bull calves that day, weighing between 301kg and 400kg averaging €1,060 each. Joe liked a good one and, as one man said to me in Elphin Mart last week: “If Joe Gilfillan bid on your calves in Elphin, you knew you were doing the job right.”
Growing up on a Co Roscommon farm, Joe’s father Tom bred Shorthorn and Angus cattle and operated a store cattle enterprise with cattle from the farm being exported to Scotland and the UK.
Joe took his chances and bought 70 cheap Charolais stores and when the time came to sell them, the price still hadn’t lifted so they decided to finish them at home
Joe studied agriculture in Warrenstown Agricultural College in 1966 and it was on a field trip to Teagasc, Grange that Joe first encountered Charolais cattle. He saw the potential in them and when back home persuaded his father Tom to purchase Charolais crosses the next time they were buying.
It was a good move and the Charolais cattle did very well on the farm. It wasn’t until the big cattle price crash of 1974 that the breed really came through.
Joe took his chances and bought 70 cheap Charolais stores and when the time came to sell them, the price still hadn’t lifted so they decided to finish them at home. The slaughter performance and returns went above what they expected and the farm continued to finish cattle ever since.
First pedigree purchase
Joe and his father were the first pedigree Charolais breeders in Co Roscommon. He bought his first heifer off Bart Monaghan in 1974 and established the Kilmore pedigree Charolais herd, increasing to 30 pedigree cows at its peak.
In an interview with the Irish Farmers Journal, he once said: “I’m a diehard Charolais man” and he certainly was.
Cattle bred by Joe sold for prices in excess of €10,000 on several occasions. Two bulls were sold into AI and bulls were sold to Scotland and the UK, achievements many breeders spend their lifetime trying for.
Joe was a lifelong member of the Midland and Western Livestock Improvement Society and was involved in the purchasing of the current site in Carrick-on-Shannon in 1990.
The current facility is a testament to him and his fellow committee members and is one of the leading venues in the country for pedigree livestock sales.
He was first elected to Charolais council in 1977 and was elected every three years thereafter for the next 40 years. Joe was instrumental in his role and was often the voice to speak up for smaller breeders.
He had a strong belief that access to top AI genetics was key for smaller breeders to progress and Joe was central in setting up semen imports from France for the use of Irish Charolais breeders. He was involved in importing breed stalwarts such as Excellent, Jupiter, Nevers, Meillard and Utrillo Mic.
A number of years ago, he recognised the need for an indoor showing facility for Charolais cattle and along with fellow council members Michael McGirl, Gerry O’Keefe and Martin O’Connor approached Elphin Mart to discuss building a facility. This facility was opened in December 2015 and it’s a fitting tribute that the Irish Charolais Cattle Society intends to hold its national show in Elphin this October.
Over the years, Joe represented the society at events alongside the breed secretary Nuala Hourihane in Canada, England, France and Brazil. He judged at shows all across Ireland, north and south.
Over the years, Joe organised some very well-attended suckler meetings in Carrick-on-Shannon highlighting issues in relation to suckler farming in the west.
Joe was a great community man and was never found wanting when someone needed help.
He gave his fields for the annual sports days, community games and Kilmore GAA. It was in Gilfillan’s field that the club was reformed in 1973 and players togged out in Joe’s sheds.
All of us who knew Joe Gilfinan are saddened by his passing, but our loss is tempered by the fact that we were privileged to have known him
He held every position in the club and was centrally involved in purchasing new grounds for the club in 1981.
The many tributes to him at his funeral in Kilmore were a testament to the huge amount of respect he held within Charolais circles, wider farming circles and his local Roscommon community.
All of us who knew Joe Gilfillan are saddened by his passing, but our loss is tempered by the fact that we were privileged to have known him.
I don’t think we will see his kind of passion and commitment to a breed ever again.
Our sympathies go out to his wife, Mary, his sister, Noreen and his extended family. May he rest in peace.
Read more
Way Out West: sucklers and sheep in south Roscommon
Quotes continue to creep up despite factory efforts
Irish Shows Association Virtual Show 2020 - the show must go on(line)!
My friendship with Joe Gilfillan started off in 1998 at Longford county show. I was 16 and Longford was the first show I brought the first Charolais heifer I ever owned to.
Sick with nerves, Joe tapped me out first in a strong class. I was delighted. I had watched Joe Gilfillan’s animals achieve the highest prices at sales for years before that and to be talking to him about breeding cattle and the finer points of animals at the top of the line was the highlight of that summer.
Over the years, we would chat at sales and in 2009 I got a phone call from him to say that he wished to co-opt me on to the Charolais council.
It was a great honour to serve on the Charolais council with him and I learnt a lot during that time.
Joe was always two steps ahead and was a wealth of knowledge about the Charolais breed.
Driving with him anywhere was a pleasure. Story after story about cattle and farming, in general, would be told.
Joe didn’t just talk about Charolais cattle – he lived them
Joe was a top-class storyteller and he could recall things which happened in the 1970s as if it were yesterday.
He took particular delight in regaling stories about his good friend John Dillon, some of which are repeatable and some not.
Joe didn’t just talk about Charolais cattle – he lived them. Looking back through some Irish Farmers Journal archives, I came across a photo of him at the autumn show and sale of bull weanlings in Elphin in September 2017.
Joe bought 36 bull calves that day, weighing between 301kg and 400kg averaging €1,060 each. Joe liked a good one and, as one man said to me in Elphin Mart last week: “If Joe Gilfillan bid on your calves in Elphin, you knew you were doing the job right.”
Growing up on a Co Roscommon farm, Joe’s father Tom bred Shorthorn and Angus cattle and operated a store cattle enterprise with cattle from the farm being exported to Scotland and the UK.
Joe took his chances and bought 70 cheap Charolais stores and when the time came to sell them, the price still hadn’t lifted so they decided to finish them at home
Joe studied agriculture in Warrenstown Agricultural College in 1966 and it was on a field trip to Teagasc, Grange that Joe first encountered Charolais cattle. He saw the potential in them and when back home persuaded his father Tom to purchase Charolais crosses the next time they were buying.
It was a good move and the Charolais cattle did very well on the farm. It wasn’t until the big cattle price crash of 1974 that the breed really came through.
Joe took his chances and bought 70 cheap Charolais stores and when the time came to sell them, the price still hadn’t lifted so they decided to finish them at home. The slaughter performance and returns went above what they expected and the farm continued to finish cattle ever since.
First pedigree purchase
Joe and his father were the first pedigree Charolais breeders in Co Roscommon. He bought his first heifer off Bart Monaghan in 1974 and established the Kilmore pedigree Charolais herd, increasing to 30 pedigree cows at its peak.
In an interview with the Irish Farmers Journal, he once said: “I’m a diehard Charolais man” and he certainly was.
Cattle bred by Joe sold for prices in excess of €10,000 on several occasions. Two bulls were sold into AI and bulls were sold to Scotland and the UK, achievements many breeders spend their lifetime trying for.
Joe was a lifelong member of the Midland and Western Livestock Improvement Society and was involved in the purchasing of the current site in Carrick-on-Shannon in 1990.
The current facility is a testament to him and his fellow committee members and is one of the leading venues in the country for pedigree livestock sales.
He was first elected to Charolais council in 1977 and was elected every three years thereafter for the next 40 years. Joe was instrumental in his role and was often the voice to speak up for smaller breeders.
He had a strong belief that access to top AI genetics was key for smaller breeders to progress and Joe was central in setting up semen imports from France for the use of Irish Charolais breeders. He was involved in importing breed stalwarts such as Excellent, Jupiter, Nevers, Meillard and Utrillo Mic.
A number of years ago, he recognised the need for an indoor showing facility for Charolais cattle and along with fellow council members Michael McGirl, Gerry O’Keefe and Martin O’Connor approached Elphin Mart to discuss building a facility. This facility was opened in December 2015 and it’s a fitting tribute that the Irish Charolais Cattle Society intends to hold its national show in Elphin this October.
Over the years, Joe represented the society at events alongside the breed secretary Nuala Hourihane in Canada, England, France and Brazil. He judged at shows all across Ireland, north and south.
Over the years, Joe organised some very well-attended suckler meetings in Carrick-on-Shannon highlighting issues in relation to suckler farming in the west.
Joe was a great community man and was never found wanting when someone needed help.
He gave his fields for the annual sports days, community games and Kilmore GAA. It was in Gilfillan’s field that the club was reformed in 1973 and players togged out in Joe’s sheds.
All of us who knew Joe Gilfinan are saddened by his passing, but our loss is tempered by the fact that we were privileged to have known him
He held every position in the club and was centrally involved in purchasing new grounds for the club in 1981.
The many tributes to him at his funeral in Kilmore were a testament to the huge amount of respect he held within Charolais circles, wider farming circles and his local Roscommon community.
All of us who knew Joe Gilfillan are saddened by his passing, but our loss is tempered by the fact that we were privileged to have known him.
I don’t think we will see his kind of passion and commitment to a breed ever again.
Our sympathies go out to his wife, Mary, his sister, Noreen and his extended family. May he rest in peace.
Read more
Way Out West: sucklers and sheep in south Roscommon
Quotes continue to creep up despite factory efforts
Irish Shows Association Virtual Show 2020 - the show must go on(line)!
This is a subscriber-only article
SHARING OPTIONS: