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04 Mar 2026
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04 Mar 2026
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Westport's Joseph Scahill and Claremorris man Adam Killeen at The Golden Shears World Championships
It was a triumphant start for Mayo sheep shearers in New Zealand as Westport’s Joseph Scahill won the Intermediate competition at The Golden Shears World Championships.
He came through a 70-shearer strong heat to get into the last 18. He qualified in 6th place for the semi final and 4th for a place in the final before peaking at the right time to take the Intermediate crown.
He becomes the first Irish winner at the Golden Shears World Championships since David Kingston in 1998.
The Prospect man turned 21 yesterday so this win will be another reason to celebrate.
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He has been shearing since he was 17 and has been in New Zealand since November. It is his second season there and he has had three shearing seasons at home in Mayo.
His proud father, Joe, told The Mayo News that Joseph “has put in the hard yards, and they have paid off and he has put in a lot of dedication to that job.”
Joe and his late brother Brian set up a shearing business in Prospect in the 1980s so Joseph comes from a strong shearing tradition.
Ones to watch
Claremorris man Adam Killeen (20) made it through a strong field of 65 competitors to the Senior Semi Finals, which will take place this coming Saturday.
Drummin brothers James and Martin Hopkins will be the latest Mayo men to represent Ireland at this World Championships and are due to compete tonight in the in blade shearing category.
READ MORE: Mayo man set to feature on popular show ‘Countdown’ tomorrow
The next round of competition will start at 8pm Irish time tonight and can be streamed through the Golden Shears website.
The skilled sportsmen efficiently remove the fleece from the sheep without double cutting the wool fibre or causing injury to the animal or self, all at speed. Judges closely watch, monitor and assess these key aspects.
Ahead of the competition, Martin Hopkins spoke to The Mayo News about the preparation involved before the competition started, especially as it is currently the off season for shearing in Ireland.
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