A morning for the wool as Meitheal gathers in the town of Athenry

A MORNING of wool, weaving, and waltzes – as well as the wizardry of the hand-shears – will  take centre stage in Athenry, this Saturday, July 9, with the staging of the second annual Wool Meitheal.

At a time when wool prices in general have slipped to an all-time low of around 20c per kilo, fleeces from the certified Galway Sheep Breed flocks will be fetching €2.50/kg from the two specialised buyers in attendance.

Wool from the four provinces will be snapped up by Donegal Yarns and Woolow Sleep, both of whom specialise in the sale of top-quality products made from genuine Irish wool.

All of last year’s ‘wool clip’ was purchased by Donegal Yarns before being ‘moved on’ to the prestigious Rhyme Studios in New York, who specialise in the provision of top-quality authentic wool products.

Blátnaid Gallagher, who is Secretary of the Galway Wool Co-op, said that they were  looking forward to a wonderful morning on Saturday (9.30am to 11.30am) in the Athenry Mart for a celebration ‘of all that’s good’ about wool grown on the backs of pedigree Galway sheep.

“All the fleeces come from certified Galway sheep breeders, and we are delighted at the positive response we got from Donegal Yarns last year to our produce, while this year, Woolow Sleep, will also be buying on Saturday.

“We are a voluntary group who got together to promote a product that is pure native Irish and grown on Galway Sheep – the only fully Irish sheep breed,” Blátnaid Gallagher told the Farming Tribune.

For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.

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