Tourists flock to sheepdog trial

KERRY ATTRACTION: HOW DO YOU create a successful visitor attraction?

KERRY ATTRACTION:HOW DO YOU create a successful visitor attraction?

Well, you could spend lots of money on an interpretative centre or, if you are a canny Kerry hill farmer, you could think up an innovative idea that is simple and real at a location where tourists pass. Here you create a beguilingly simple experience that feeds into our universal nostalgia for the ancient, unchanged practices that bring men and animals into perfect harmony.

Arriving at Kells Bay for the renowned sheepdog demonstrations, the location comes across initially as unpretentiously rural and raw, and clearly a place where the smart economy has yet to fetch up.

Then a Tom Selleck lookalike arrives to sprinkle stardust with words at will, a lilting Kerry accent, a shepherd’s crook and an irresistibly unaffected personality.

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Soon Brendan Ferris has everybody eating out of his hands as he explains the harsh life of a Kerry hill farmer. Then a whistle sends two Border collies up the sheep-speckled mountainside.

Responding to Brendan’s unintelligible commands and whistles, the dogs guide the sheep downwards – expertly separating them when required – until all are resolutely penned.

The spectacle is watched by several coachloads of tourists each time – up to a couple of hundred at a go.

A question-and-answer session then follows where the dogs are the real stars. People want to find out more about them and inevitably somebody becomes besotted and asks if they’re for sale. The reply to this question is always unambiguous: no.

The sheepdog demonstrations cost €5 per person and take place beside Caitlin’s Pub, Kells, Co Kerry between 9.30am and noon, May to September. Demonstration times vary and individuals should check in advance by telephoning 087-2604566.