New Zealand stud holds coincidental links to Fermoy
Back in 1990 while farmer Stewart Eden and late wife Rosemary began farming, their close Irish family friend, Jim (surname unknown), inspired the name for their stud farm. "Jim told us about the area of Fermoy and its history and we decided to go for it," recalls Stewart. Then the Fermoy Holstein Friesian
stud farm was born.
An unlikely event in the fact that neither of the couple held any family connections to the area. Many decades ago Rosemary’s grandfather, whose family's name was Scarlett, emigrated from Enniskillen, County Fermanagh to New Zealand. Stewart shares that Rosemary’s parents had visited Enniskillen three times and noted that Rosemary was always interested in her Irish roots.
In 1999, Stewart and
Rosemary moved from South Waikato on the South Island of New Zealand to Riversdale on the North Island. No matter where the farm was based they always received plenty of questions about the origins of the name of the stud. The seasoned farmer recounts a time a local administrative worker quizzed him in detail on Fermoy and why it was chosen to identify the stud farm. It certainly sticks out amongst farms in New Zealand.
Sadly, Rosemary passed away in 2005 and several years later, Stewart remarried. He now runs a Hereford farm with his wife Julia and has held on to the Fermoy prefix to the stud (Fermoy Holsteins) as 'a mark of respect for Rosemary and the love for the name'.
Stewart remarks that his family’s connections to Ireland are now dwindling following the passing of Rosemary’s brother in 2020. This served as an even greater encouragement for the family to hold on to the prefix. Stewart’s son, Jake, is a very enthusiastic in helping out with the herd and will likely take over the farm when he is older. Jake has always supported the nod to East Cork in their stud farm name and Stewart assures that he will carry it into the next generation.
This year marks a big shift for the family. April saw the sale of Stewart and Julia's 240 Holstein Friesian cows and heifers as well as several of their South Devon bulls from their 216ha farm. The pair shared that the heavy labour had started to take its toll. It was clear downsizing to a smaller Hereford herd and moving away from dairy farming was the best option.
This marks the end of 32 years of farming black and white dairy cattle for Stewart. The farmer previously sat as president of the Southland branch of the New Zealand Holstein Friesian Association.
Locally, Clonakilty hosts the base of the Holstein Friesian Association in Ireland, with the breed dominating the present day Irish dairy herd. Similarly, the herd is a popular choice in New Zealand.
Julia shared that she misses the young dairy stock they kept and has
The Avondhu
even taken on a few of the animals from a former neighbour to rear for the year. As Stewart and Julia and their twins head into a new chapter in their lives, we hope they'll make their way to Fermoy at some stage. We wish them all the best in the years to come!