Connacht Tribune
Knitters go mad for Galway sheep – producing Ireland’s only indigenous wool
A knitting club using only wool from the endangered Galway Sheep breed has sold out hours after it launched – with knitters from around the globe jumping at a unique chance to create a blanket with Ireland’s only indigenous sheep wool.
In all her years of organising knitting clubs, never has one sold out so quickly, reveals Carol Feller, the founder of Stolen Stitches, a large knitting company based in Co Cork.
Some 200 knitters from Ireland and abroad paid over €85 to sign up to the Galway Blanket Club. She is hoping to open it up to another 100 once enough of the ‘Gaillimh’ wool yarn can be secured.
Each club offers luxury yarn, exclusively designed knitting patterns, step-by-step workshops, collaborations with local designers as well as the chance to ask questions about what is being knitted at each stage.
Up to now, the clubs used only imported wool from mainly merino sheep in South America or Australia.
When launching the first ‘Galway Blanket Club’, the company liaised with the Galway Wool Co-Op, which has championed the preservation of the Galway Sheep by offering farmers here more money for wool from this breed.
The farmer-owned and run co-operative gathered 5,400 kg of purebred wool at Athenry Mart in 2021 which it had delivered to Donegal Yarns to be spun. The company has bought two years’ clip from the co-op.
Carol says Galway wool is resilient, rustic and strong, extending the life of any garment or item produced from it.
“It’s not super soft, like merino or cashmere, so it’s more durable, it retains its shape very well. It’s not quite as soft in the hands so it washes well with lanolin. It gives a very good stitch definition, it becomes almost three-dimensional. The stiches just jump off the surface.”
The Galway Wool Co-op have now established real traceability for the purebred wool, instead of getting mixed in with wool from other breeds.
“I think there’s such a huge amount of support out there for Irish farmers and for a breed-specific rare wool. We went for a visit to a farm and made a video of the sheep so there’s a clear line of traceability.”
The ‘Galway’ is officially listed as a “breed in danger of extinction” and qualifies for extra grants under Reps IV.
It is formally recognised by the Irish State as the only remaining indigenous sheep breed.
In 1993 there were just ten flocks and 118 ewes of Galway Sheep recorded in the national flock book owing to the popularity of Suffolk-cross lambs from the mid-70s.
The Galway Sheep Breeders’ Society was formed in Athenry in 1923, creating a name change for the common long-woolled type of sheep common in the central plain of Ireland up to the mid 18OOs known as ‘the white sheep’ or ‘the Roscommon’.
The first flock book of ‘Galways’ published in 1924 stated that over 6,000 ewes and 200 rams were examined by an inspection committee and 600 ewes and 20 rams were admitted to the flock book. A total of 23 flocks were established by this process.
But between 1975 to 1992 the percentage of Galway ewes, relative to all lowland ewes, declined from 61% to 8%.
Blátnaid Gallagher, one of the founders of the Galway Wool Co-Op, estimates there are less than 3,000 of this docile native Irish breed still a part of Irish family farm life.
Stolen Stitches will likely run a second a club with ‘Gaillimh’ wool, but probably will focus on something other than blankets next time.
“Our clubs usually sell out in a few weeks. This one sold out in ten hours. I still can’t believe it. Knitters also liked that we were giving some of the proceeds to charity.”
From the sale of every club membership, €5 will be donated to the youth mental health charity, Jigsaw. Donegal Yarns will donate €1 to the charity from every kilo of wool sold.
“Preserving the heritage of this Irish sheep breed is of great importance to Stolen Stitches. We want to share this wool with the wider world through our global dedicated knitting community, which will allow the breed to develop and grow so that it can continue to improve.”
Significant state investment is required to address ‘shocking’ inequalities that leave cancer patients in the West at greater risk of succumbing to the disease.
A meeting of Regional Health Forum West heard that survival rates for breast, lung and colorectal cancers than the national average, and with the most deprived quintile of the population, the West’s residents faced poorer outcomes from a cancer diagnosis.
For breast cancer patients, the five-year survival rate was 80% in the West versus 85% nationally; for lung cancer patients it was 16.7% in the west against a 19.5% national survival rate; and in the West’s colorectal cancer patients, there was a 62.6% survival rate where the national average was 63.1%.
These startling statistics were provided in answer to a question from Ballinasloe-based Cllr Evelyn Parsons (Ind) who said it was yet another reminder that cancer treatment infrastructure in the West was in dire need of improvement.
“The situation is pretty stark. In the Western Regional Health Forum area, we have the highest incidence of deprivation and the highest health inequalities because of that – we have the highest incidences of cancer nationally because of that,” said Cllr Parsons, who is also a general practitioner.
In details provided by CEO of Saolta Health Care Group, which operates Galway’s hospitals, it was stated that a number of factors were impacting on patient outcomes.
Get the full story in this week’s Connacht Tribune, on sale in shops now, or you can download the digital edition from www.connachttribune.ie. You can also download our Connacht Tribune App from Apple’s App Store or get the Android Version from Google Play.
Galway 3-18
Cork 1-10
NEW setting; new opposition; new challenge. It made no difference to the Galway minor hurlers as they chalked up a remarkable sixth consecutive double digits championship victory at Semple Stadium on Saturday.
The final scoreline in Thurles may have been a little harsh on Cork, but there was no doubting Galway’s overall superiority in setting up only a second-ever All-Ireland showdown against Clare at the same venue on Sunday week.
Having claimed an historic Leinster title the previous weekend, Galway took a while to get going against the Rebels and also endured their first period in a match in which they were heavily outscored, but still the boys in maroon roll on.
Beating a decent Cork outfit by 14 points sums up how formidable Galway are. No team has managed to lay a glove on them so far, and though Clare might ask them questions other challengers haven’t, they are going to have to find significant improvement on their semi-final win over 14-man Kilkenny to pull off a final upset.
Galway just aren’t winning their matches; they are overpowering the teams which have stood in their way. Their level of consistency is admirable for young players starting off on the inter-county journey, while the team’s temperament appears to be bombproof, no matter what is thrown at them.
Having romped through Leinster, Galway should have been a bit rattled by being only level (0-4 each) after 20 minutes and being a little fortunate not to have been behind; or when Cork stormed out of the blocks at the start of the second half by hitting 1-4 to just a solitary point in reply, but there was never any trace of panic in their ranks.
For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.
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GARDAÍ and the IFA have issued a joint appeal to all road users to take extra care as the silage season gets under way across the country.
Silage harvesting started in many parts of Galway last week – and over the coming month, the sight of tractors and trailers on rural roads will be getting far more frequent.
Inspector Conor Madden, who is in charge of Galway Roads Policing, told the Farming Tribune that a bit of extra care and common-sense from all road users would go a long way towards preventing serious collisions on roads this summer.
“One thing I would ask farmers and contractors to consider is to try and get more experienced drivers working for them.
“Tractors have got faster and bigger – and they are also towing heavy loads of silage – so care and experience are a great help in terms of accident prevention,” Inspector Madden told the Farming Tribune.
He said that tractor drivers should always be aware of traffic building up behind them and to pull in and let these vehicles pass, where it was safe to do so.
“By the same token, other road users should always exercise extra care; drive that bit slower; and ‘pull in’ that bit more, when meeting tractors and heavy machinery.
“We all want to see everyone enjoying a safe summer on our roads – that extra bit of care, and consideration for other roads users can make a huge difference,” said Conor Madden.
He also advised motorists and tractor drivers to be acutely aware of pedestrians and cyclists on the roads during the summer season when more people would be out walking and cycling on the roads.
The IFA has also joined in on the road safety appeal with Galway IFA Farm Family and Social Affairs Chair Teresa Roche asking all road users to exercise that extra bit of care and caution.
“We are renewing our annual appeal for motorists to be on the look out for tractors, trailers and other agricultural machinery exiting from fields and farmyards,” she said.
For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.
Connacht Tribune Digital Edition App
Download the Connacht Tribune Digital Edition App to access to Galway’s best-selling newspaper.
Click HERE to download it for iPhone and iPad from Apple’s App Store, or HERE to get the Android Version from Google Play.
Or purchase the Digital Edition for PC, Mac or Laptop from Pagesuite HERE.
Get the Connacht Tribune Live app
The Connacht Tribune Live app is the home of everything that is happening in Galway City and county. It’s completely FREE and features all the latest news, sport and information on what’s on in your area. Click HERE to download it for iPhone and iPad from Apple’s App Store, or HERE to get the Android Version from Google Play.
Families queue up for school’s offer of free house
West has lower cancer survival rates than rest
Galway minors continue to lay waste to all opponents
Gardaí and IFA issue a joint appeal on summer road safety
Marathon Man plans to call a halt – but not before he hits 160 races
