‘Girly girl’ is not afraid to get her hands dirty
SHE loves being a “girly girl” but if you want help on the farm, especially around calving time, Armagh Rose Nicole McKeown is your woman.
The 25-year-old (inset) works full-time as duty manager at Belfast’s Grand Opera House but revealed she helped deliver a calf by Caesarean section on her grandfather PJ’s Co Down farm.
She loves to help out on the farm, as a way of winding down from the stresses of daily life and the family dairy farm on Loughinisland is just the ticket.
“It was 1am and my dad woke me up and said ‘we have to go if you want to see this’. So I went up and the cow was having a section so I helped out,” she said.
During her live interview at The Dome in Tralee last week she said it was nice to get a mention of the farm in.
“It’s part of my dad’s life and my brother Richie’s now.
“It’s nice being a girly, girl but I’ve always loved going to the farm, putting my wellies on, getting dirty and having a great time there.
“It’s such a close-knit family and everyone on a farm works together and the support has been incredible so it’s certainly given me a good base,” she added. If she missed life on the farm during the Rose of Tralee International Festival, Nicole had a few others who share her interest, in escorts Shane Murphy and Stephen Murray. Their hands were never as clean as they were last week, they joked. Shane (24) from Belmullet, Co Mayo, recently completed his Green Cert and has leased his own farm to raise sheep. “To get going sheep is the easiest but I hope to eventually get a herd number but when you’re leasing the land, you don’t want to be spending too much on facilities just to get going but eventually, I hope to buy my own land and get into the sucklers,” he said. Part-time drystock farmer Stephen Murray (26) from Galway is a technical agricultural officer and spends most of his time scanning cows and sheep. He’s also studying livestock auctioneering. He was enjoying a break from the farm in Tralee as an escort. “I couldn’t explain to anyone how good it is. It’s also nice to get away from everything and meet loads of new people,” he said.