Vet working in Cahir is South Tipperary’s representative in the Queen of the Land Festival 

A 25 year-old member of Rathkeevin Macra na Feirme will fly the flag for South Tipperary in the Queen of the Land Festival in Tullamore next month. 

Cashel-based Catherine Shannon, a newly qualified vet working in Cahir, will be among 28 Macra members from throughout Ireland vying for the coveted crown of Queen of the Land at the 55th annual festival in Tullamore's Bridge House Hotel from November 8 to 10. 

The Festival celebrates the talents and achievements of the young women of Macra Na Feirme.

 The Queen Of The Land is chosen based on personality, energy, confidence, rural knowledge and eloquence.

The winner will act as an ambassador for young rural women over the next year. 

Catherine was nominated by members of her Macra Club for the  competition.

Competing in the Queen of the Land Festival final will be the culmination of a busy year  for the native of Summerhill, Co. Meath.

Catherine moved to South Tipperary in March to take up her first job as a veterinery surgeon at Cahir Veterinery Clinic, a mixed practice treating both small and large animals  run by Folke Rohrssen.

 The previous month she graduated with her degree in veterinery medicine from Budapest's University of Veterinary Medicine.

Catherine was a member of Macra for a number of years before moving to Co. Tipperary and shortly after starting work in Cahir she joined Rathkeevin Macra na Feirme branch near Clonmel.

 She says getting involved in Macra is a great way of making new friends and socialising. 

Catherine comes from a farming background and is the youngest of four children.

 Her family are dairy farmers and she loved working on the farm as a child and teenager. 

She helps her dad whenever  she visits home.

  "When I have a weekend off I love to throw on the milking apron and jump back into the (milking parlour) pit."

 While in university, Catherine spent her holidays working for Farm Relief Services doing relief milking, general farm labour, night-time calving and lambing assistance on several farms around Co. Meath. 

"The farmers I worked for were all very supportive and encouraging. 

“I genuinely loved that job and I gained a lot of practical experience and confidence from it," she recalled. 

Her interest in veterinary stems from her love of farming. 

"From a very young age, I was always intrigued and interested when a vet arrived at the farm.

 “I can remember sitting up on the haybarn wall watching my dad and the local vet calve a cow. 

“I wanted to be like them. It was fascinating to me," she said. 

She is enjoying her work at Cahir Veterinary Clinic.  

The  past few months have been a "steep learning curve" of practical experience for her as a newly qualified vet.

  "I am enjoying the day-to-day variety of the job and, in particular, meeting different farmers, some of whom are real characters."

Catherine's experience as a woman working in the male dominated world of agriculture has been very positive so far and she encourages more women to choose a career in agriculture.  

"I love being a woman in agriculture and I hope to inspire more girls to consider a career in agriculture now and in the future. 

“With hardwork, dedication and self-belief anything is achievable."