01-08-2025
King Of The Castle - Canterbury Shearer Wins Big Lambs Championship In Northern Ireland
North Canterbury shearer Hugh de Lacy has had his biggest win in Open-class shearing by claiming the Northern Ireland Lambshearing Championships wool Open title at historic Antrim show-venue Shane's Castle.
de Lacy won the four-man final on Saturday, from 2023 Northern Ireland World championships representatives Jack Robinson and Graeme Davidson and Republic of Ireland shearing legend and former World lambshearing records holder Ivan Scott.
In a close contest over 13 lambs each, with just 26 seconds separating the quartet, de Lacy was first-off, in 10m 16s, and also scored the pest points in pen judging, to beat Robinson by 1.257pts.
From Fernside, near Rangiora, and in his eighth year as an Open-class shearer had possibly his most notable win in a two-sheep all-nations Senior speedshear during the 2017 Golden Shears World Shearing and Woolhandling Championships in Invercargill in 2017.
He's had seven Open wins in mainly smaller New Zealand Shows of 10 sheep or more in the South Island, but won the Canterbury All-Breeds Circuit final in 2023 and 2024 (each over 12 mixed sheep), and in 2022 was third in the national circuit final, over 15 sheep comprising three each of five different wool types, at Armidale Merino Stud in Central Otago.
Working in Omagh, de Lacy has been one of several New Zealand shearers working and competing in the UK and Ireland in recent weeks, in addition to the New Zealand team of two that also last Saturday completed a test series against Wales.
He has just finished work, is "holidaying now" and will do the All-Ireland championships in Clonmany, Co Donegal, Ireland, next week before heading home to prepare for the shows in Canterbury in the Shearing Sports New Zealand season which starts at the New Zealand Merino championships in Alexandra in October.
Result of the Northern Ireland lambshearing Championship at Shane's Castle, Antrim, on July 26, 2025 (13 sheep): Hugh de Lacy (New Zealand) 10m 16s, 40.877pts, 1; Jack Robinson (Northern Ireland) 10m 35s, 42.134pts, 2; Graeme Davidson (Northern Ireland) 10m 44s, 44.431pts, 3; Ivan Scott (Ireland) 10m 42s, 45.177pts, 4.
