'It’s very hard to get help now out in rural areas because everyone's moving away'
Glyn Egan with his father John.
Glyn Egan, who many on social media may know as the “Sheep Shepherd”, is a full-time sheep farmer in the Kerry mountains near the Cork border, close to Gougane Barra.
Alongside his father John, the 33-year-old farms 720 acres, and has 120 acres of forestry which was planted back in the late 2000s.
They run about 800 sheep, and 200 replacement ewe lambs every year on the farm.
“We had suckler cows up until last year; there [were] cows here since my father can remember, but we sold the last of them last year to focus on the sheep,” Mr Egan said.
“Our land is predominantly mountain, so it’s better suited to the sheep.
“The land is all in one block, so very lucky that way — no long hauls, everything is close to the farm, and the farmhouse and sheds are at the centre of it.”
Mr Egan is the eighth generation to be farming here, and his father has “dramatically improved the land” over the years.
“My father works here every day with me, and he has no intention of retiring, and as he says himself, he’ll keep going until he drops — there’ll be no stopping him,” Mr Egan said.
“I’d be lost without him, in fairness, with the kind of numbers we’re running, you’d have to have someone and only for the father there, I wouldn’t be able to cope at all, so I’m absolutely delighted to have him helping me.
“It’s very hard to get help now out in rural areas because everyone’s moving away and everyone is busy and there’s not many young people around anymore.”
Working with his father every day since Mr Egan returned from spending a number of years abroad, he was glad to have the “mighty craic together — we’d be tearing shreds out of each other as well but we have good enjoyment”.
“When you’re away overseas, you’d always be fearing the worst for your parents but it’s great to be home, working with your father every day.”
In his 20s, Mr Egan lived in Cork City for five years, doing his trade as a carpenter, and when he qualified, he was looking at going away but did not have anything planned.
Following the earthquake that struck New Zealand in 2011, Mr Egan saw an ad online about rebuilding Christchurch, looking for carpenters.
“I always wanted to travel so I jumped at it. I didn’t know anyone over there, and I travelled myself. I just booked the tickets about a week before I left and even none of my friends believed I was going until I left,” he said. “I stayed there for a year, absolutely loved New Zealand.”
He then moved to Sydney on a three-month holiday visa “not knowing what was next, until I met Grace”, his wife. “We stayed there for over five years, and we loved every minute of it,” he said, and it was then the right time to move back home to Ireland.
He said he had a lot of friends who came home from Oz about the same time as him and since, but out of around 10 of them, “five or six have gone back, they couldn’t settle in Ireland”.
Rural areas are “definitely improving” as liveable places for young people, Mr Egan reckons, but there is a “long way to go”.
“The current day of social media is helping farmers big time to get a network and even to overcome challenges and loneliness, to have an outlet,” Mr Egan said.
“Since I came home, I set up an Instagram page and a YouTube page, and it’s really kicked off the last couple of months. It’s where I share my experiences, definitely my struggles.
“Social media is definitely good for that, and it definitely helps me personally because when you’re a farmer, there’s a lot of days you’re working on your own, and if things aren’t going your way, it can be a lonely place and it’s great to have your phone with you.”
