Person: Denis Lehane

A COMPREHENSIVE SERIES OF ARTICLES ON THIS TOPIC

farming

Lighten up: Auld Lehane's top 10 budget proposals to help struggling farmers

With Budget 2026 closing in faster than the plastic being stretched over a freshly-made silage pit, Denis Lehane has a shortlist of measures to encourage farmers to stick with the job

farming

Denis Lehane: Glenroe and The Field taught me more about farming than any classroom

Denis Lehane: We Irish farmers are world-renowned experts on rain

The Two Johnnies - Photo by Ruth Medjber @ruthlessimagery

farming

The day I met The Two Johnnies

farming

Sinking feeling as Denis heads for a big birthday

farming

Lighten Up with Denis Lehane: Spam saviour for broke farmer

Denis Lehane: It will be a hungry summer for silage contractors

The coronavirus hit us all hard, and I believe it will hit silage contractors worst of all. It will hit them where it hurts the most, in the belly.

Wed, 20 May, 2020

Denis Lehane: Discussions on protocols for resumption of mart auctions

“We are still examining ways to match more buyers and sellers.”

Thu, 23 Apr, 2020

Denis Lehane: Dear Denis... Cabin fever and other lockdown problems

I received a curious letter during the week from a concerned West Cork woman whose philandering husband can no longer philander.

Fri, 10 Apr, 2020

Denis Lehane: No courting in the time of coronavirus

In his latest 'Lighten Up' column, Denis Lehane bemoans the destruction of romance by the necessary measures to deal with the coronavirus pandemic.

Thu, 02 Apr, 2020

Denis Lehane: We musn’t lose sight of the little things in life that cheer us up

If you can find an avenue at the moment that brings you a little happiness, head down that avenue.

Fri, 27 Mar, 2020

Denis Lehane analyses the effect of the Scrooge-like beef barons on the cattle mart trade

It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas, so what better time then to look at the cattle trade.

Thu, 19 Dec, 2019

How the green agenda backfired disastrously for Co Cork biofuel farmers

Denis Lehane Stephen Shorten is a bright, articulate and hardworking farmer. He lives and farms in Enniskeane, Co Cork.

Tue, 10 Dec, 2019

Give the old boy some credit: Denis Lehane welcomes rural gold diggers

I’ve always been envious of Karen Walsh on page 20 of this paper.

Mon, 21 Oct, 2019

Denis Lehane: A roadworthy jeep is ‘life or death’

I got the surprise of my life, the other night, when I spotted what looked like an old jeep of mine on the television.

Fri, 14 Jun, 2019

'I got the shock of my life when I read...David Cameron lands a job in AI'

Denis Lehane I got the shock of my life, the other morning, when I read the newspaper headline ‘David Cameron lands a job in AI.’ Tossing the paper aside, I let out a roar that my missus picked up on.

Tue, 04 Jun, 2019

Denis Lehane reveals Donald Trump's Irish itinerary

It will come as no surprise I’m sure, when I announce here today that I have the definitive itinerary regarding the trip of Donald Trump to Ireland.

Tue, 28 May, 2019

Heat detection helping hand for tail painters

Denis Lehane When it comes to identifying, developing and creating new devices to help us on the land, surely there is none better than the entrepreneurial farmer to be leading the charge.

Thu, 18 Apr, 2019

Lighten Up with Denis Lehane: Valentine boost for the card industry

Last week, European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker received a mighty lump of a greeting card from Ireland.

Thu, 14 Feb, 2019

How to spend the money of a EuroMillions win

Denis Lehane knows the first thing he'd do if he found himself swimming in money

Mon, 07 Jan, 2019

100-cow dairy farmer puts his faith in homeopathy

After mastitis storm, milk quality award winner went the unconventional route to better herd health and never looked back, writes Denis Lehane.

Thu, 29 Nov, 2018

Denis Lehane: Calves weaned but cats still guzzling

I must start by saying I’m not a cat lover. While hatred would be too strong a word, it’s really not far off the mark, writes Denis Lehane.

Thu, 29 Nov, 2018

Denis Lehane: Prince Charming horse whisperer

Next weekend my missus and myself will celebrate 18 years of marital bliss, writes Denis Lehane.

Thu, 22 Nov, 2018

Simmental best in the county at Carbery after break of 26 years

Best of the breeds after gap of more than quarter of a century in Carbery’s Cork Beef Bull Championship

Thu, 26 Jul, 2018

Music is the main crop as Townlands Carnival hits Colin Wolfes’ farm near Macroom

Co Cork suckler farmer Colin Wolfe hosts Townlands Carnival 2018 from Friday, July 20, to Sunday, July 22

Thu, 12 Jul, 2018

iTunes Top 100 singer a show-stopper at Clonakilty show.

Show organisers have eye and ear for the right musical talent to match the region’s prize farm animals, writes Denis Lehane

Thu, 14 Jun, 2018

Denis Lehane: Farmers need eight days a week

Do your weeks go by in a blur? Denis Lehane has the answer.

Thu, 07 Jun, 2018

Pamplona bulls, Ennis goats...

Honestly, sometimes you just have to marvel at the downright stupidity of it all.

Thu, 24 May, 2018

Demand builds as grass buyers finally get busy at the mart

This week, it really feels life is zooming by. We are all busy. Between farming and confirmations. Between religion and our calling to the land, we haven’t a moment to spare.

Thu, 17 May, 2018

Red bull will give wings to Michael O’Leary’s Gigginstown pedigree Angus sale next week

Grand National-winning owner Michael O’Leary turns his attention on April 28 to selling 50 of his pedigree Angus cattle, writes Denis Lehane.

Thu, 19 Apr, 2018

LIGHTEN UP! No fear of gold diggers on farms

If there is one thing lacking in rural Ireland, it’s matrimony, writes Denis Lehane.

Thu, 19 Apr, 2018

Cattle mart reports: Top grade cattle to be auctioned as Kanturk Mart is rearing to raise funds for Rickie

Fellows at this time of the year can often be found complaining that they have the world of trouble to contend with.

Thu, 01 Feb, 2018

Scheme can enable upland farmers and the hen harrier to thrive together

Its diminishing population over the past 40 years has made the plight of the hen harrier a pressing issue, writes Denis Lehane.

Fri, 12 Jan, 2018

Caroline started with four hens. Now she supplies SuperValu

Londoner Caroline Murphy never thought she’d end up selling eggs. She tells Denis Lehane how it happened

Thu, 23 Nov, 2017

This rural shortage is the last straw

We are short of a lot of things out here in rural Ireland. Post-offices, pubs, women. You name it, we’re lacking it.

Thu, 23 Nov, 2017

Irish Family Farm Rights Group's campaign for removal of livestock movement rule gains momentum

The Irish Family Farm Rights Group is mounting a national campaign for the removal of a livestock movement rule, which the organisation claims is unjust and not fair to farmers, and not appropriate to farming methods used here in Ireland.

Fri, 10 Nov, 2017

Even the fairies have their troubles

Yesterday evening, with the sun about to disappear over the horizon, I went to check out a few bullocks that seemed to be in a terrible state of agitation.

Thu, 02 Nov, 2017

Deadly Mr Fox...if you’re a hen

On Saturday morning, my daughter Grace came running in, shouting that a fox was trying to take the hens “and their eggs too!" writes Denis Lehane.

Fri, 13 Oct, 2017

Six scholarships and 25 cattle for lucky students at Ploughing

If you weren’t soaked to the skin on Wednesday at Screggan, you weren’t at the Ploughing Championships, writes Denis Lehane.

Fri, 29 Sep, 2017

Survey or not, I’d welcome Trump

I can’t really understand why everyone gets so uptight when talking about Donald Trump, writes Denis Lehane.

Fri, 29 Sep, 2017

Denis Lehane: Ploughing week, we are rock stars

What an amazing week this is. Not only do we have the Ploughing Championships to enjoy, but my birthday is coming hard and fast after the event.

Thu, 21 Sep, 2017

Bidding farewell to four-pronged pike

Everybody knows that I’m a first-class operator of the four-pronged pike.

Fri, 15 Sep, 2017

Love story from the French countryside

I fell in love while I was in France on my holidays.

Fri, 08 Sep, 2017

High Nelly search has me in a spin

I’m in desperate need of a High Nelly.

Thu, 10 Aug, 2017

Outdoor delights of the farm tub

I did a right crazy thing the other day.

Thu, 03 Aug, 2017

Good money paid for good cattle on a busy day in Macroom mart

Ryanair boss and Angus breeder Michael O’Leary was right to ask for “a sensible question” on RTÉ Radio 1’s Liveline last week.

Thu, 27 Jul, 2017

Mobile library on the move to bring joy to Cork communities

Donal O’Keeffe tells the story of the mobile library service which brings a sense of community and joy to people of all ages.

Wed, 26 Jul, 2017

Denis Lehane: As I was saying to myself yesterday...

Over the past few days I’ve begun to talk to myself.

Thu, 06 Jul, 2017

Irish broadcasters reveal the books they will be packing in their suitcases this summer

As holiday season kicks into gear, a number of broadcasters and authors tell Jonathan deBurca Butler which books they’ll be packing in their suitcase.

Wed, 05 Jul, 2017

Denis Lehane: The shed that fell and what it fell on

It isn’t often that I have a heart-breaking, gut-wrenching, and downright depressing saga to divulge.

Fri, 26 May, 2017