At Christmas, say thank you for the farm animals and the farming families who care for them
Christmas is almost here. Our farms across the country have animals indoors. And the slatted sheds of rural Ireland become our own Bethlehem.
christmas on the farm comes in so many different shapes and sizes. I’ve finished a new book in the last few weeks and it got me thinking about farming and Christmas and all the joys that come with it.
Between the fresh bales of straw and the early calves crawling, there is a sense of newness in the air. Our sheep are not ready to lamb yet, so they are out in the fields. I went to my herd this week to see if everything is ok.
They were like big white clouds getting lost in the freezing fog, not caring at all about the weather. Not shaken by that. Sheep know rough weather on the hills and mountains. They’re made of tougher stuff than we are.
I’ve spent the Christmas days in the sheepfold caring for a ewe or a lamb or actually had triplets with a bottle
Christmas is a time of giving. A time when our friends and neighbors gather. You never know when you might need a neighbor in this farm life, and so often they are a source of wisdom and good advice.
Christmas makes me think of our calves. They come with the season – some big, some small. They keep our intimate life with them.
When a calf is born on our farm, we light a candle and take down our worn and broken statue of St. Francis, the patron saint of animals.
We’ve been doing this since I was a boy and it’s the same statue, although years of overtime has seen better days for us.
Winter on the farm is feeding time. We feed the cattle with silage from the summer. We have round bales. Bale wrapped in black plastic. The smell of the silage makes me think of home.
Vicinity
John Connell on his farm near Ballinalee, Co. Longford. Photo by Frank McGrath
The weaners are fattened in the lower barn, the cows in the upper barn. We have been keeping sheep for seven years. It was hard work at first, for we didn’t know the ways of the sheep, but then we learned, like all things. We also lambed around Christmas for the first few years, so I would spend the Christmas days in the sheep pen tending a ewe or a lamb or having bottle-fed triplets.
On cold days in winter I go for walks or run in nature. It’s a break from work. Some days, when I feel like it, I walk to Cairn Hill, the highest point in the county. It is a sacred place where many people of the community gather for a morning walk. It makes me feel good. It’s good for all of us.
I’ve been thinking a lot about farming for the past few weeks. Maybe it’s because it’s so far from the lives of my urban friends. They don’t know what a breech delivery or a cut on a cow is.
Vicinity
“Farmer’s Christmas is something special”
Eating is an ecological act. Drinking milk, eating cheese, enjoying a lamb chop. It’s all an agricultural act.
The excitement of Dublin’s Live Animal Nursery this year made me realize that for most of society, their lives are separate from the lives of animals save for a pet, and yet just a few generations ago many city dwellers were arguably country people, country people who knew the value of a pig or a cow and all the joys and sorrows that went with it.
The animals were among the first witnesses of Jesus’ coming all those years ago
I think the Dublin Live Animals Nursery made people think about the need to have animals in our lives and the ability to say thank you to brother lamb and sister donkey who are part of the family of humanity. It may sound like a strange thought that they are part of the human family, but we domesticated sheep and cattle 10,000 years ago. They have been with us for thousands of years.
I enjoy thinking about and writing about animals. From cows to sheep to fish, they fascinate me because they give and give and charge so little in return. A meadow, a bale of hay or silage in winter, a few nuts or grains when you need protein or energy. We get so much for that.
This Christmas I will be thinking of many things, the arrival of my own baby in the New Year and the next generation to farm the land. Farming doesn’t make you rich, but it does provide a living and some of the livelihood.
The animals were among the first witnesses of Jesus’ coming all those years ago. They were part of his traveling family.
Vicinity
Author John Connell pictured at the family farm in Ballinalee, Co Longford. Image: Damien Eagers
I think in a way, maybe beyond what we can know, maybe the animals sense something different about us at Christmas too. The excitement we have who want to celebrate the season. I may be wrong, but they are smarter creatures than we give them credit for.
For those walking the land and those who will be visiting the family farm this Christmas, I hope you get to enjoy the industry that has created and nurtured this country for so long.
A farmer’s Christmas is something very special. No doubt we will Having Francis on the dining table in our home, waiting for the new life that will come in the days of good cheer.
It is time to remember the importance of our farming families in a nation that farms so well.
https://www.independent.ie/opinion/comment/this-christmas-give-thanks-for-the-animals-on-the-land-and-the-farming-families-who-tend-them-42223190.html At Christmas, say thank you for the farm animals and the farming families who care for them