Sheep Ireland Elite €uroStar Multi-Breed Ram sale will take place on Saturday, August 23rd 2025 in Kilkenny Mart.
Only flocks that have pre entered and are over 85% DQI will have access to general entries.
How to Enter
The process is the same as last year, see below screenshots. Once logged into your Sheep Ireland account, you can access the sales entry page either by selecting the sales banner which will appear on the home screen of your Sheep Ireland account or by selecting the ‘Sales Entries’ tab.
In the ‘Sales Entries’ tab, the Sheep Ireland Elite €urostar Multi-Breed Ram Sale should appear as an option if you are eligible for entry. Select the sale to continue to animal selection.
Once selected, on the left of the screen you will be able to view the sales entry criteria and the number of entries which can be entered in the sale. On the right of the screen, you will be provided with all the important information regarding the sales and contact details if you have any queries regarding your entries.
All animals eligible for entry will appear available for selection. Under the ‘Sales Entry Criteria’ you will see the number of entries allowed. Once you have selected your maximum number of entries, all other eligible animals on your account will become unavailable. You can edit the animals which you have selected by unselecting animals you no longer wish to enter and selecting a new animal.
Once happy with your selection, you can click to proceed.
You will now be presented with the animals you have selected for entry. Animals will be grouped according to their breed. You can edit the order which your animals will enter the ring by dragging and dropping the handle. Additionally, you can add comments for each animal in the box provided.
Once happy with your selection, ring order and comments for each animal you may click to proceed.
Finally, you must accept Sheep Ireland’s terms and conditions, which can be accessed by selecting the link on the page.
Once satisfied with your entry, you can click to submit your entry!
All rams must be:
- €uroStar Index – 5 Stars for either the Replacement or Terminal index at the time of catalogue printing. These can be checked using your Sheep Ireland online €uroStar report for the most up-to-date genetic evaluation results.
- Genotyped with Genomic Evaluation – genotyped through Sheep Ireland and in time for the last genomic evaluation at the time of catalogue printing.
- Fully Parentage Verified –Sire and Dam verified through DNA. Meaning, the sire and dam of every ram entered must also be genotyped with Sheep Ireland. If a sire or dam mismatches and is removed, the animal must have a new sire or dam assigned via genomic parentage predictions to be eligible for the sale.
- Scrapie Type – 1, 2, or 3. This information is available in your genomic results screen.
- Ram Inspection– physically correct when presented at intake. A thorough inspection on all rams to the sale will be carried out upon entry. Any sheep which, in the inspector’s opinion, are not physically correct will be rejected immediately.
All flocks/breeders must have:
- Data Quality Index (DQI)–a flock DQI of 85% or higher at the time of catalogue printing. View your DQI score on your online account at sheep.ie, and update it manually by clicking “Recalculate”.
- Flock Linkage Status–genetically linked in 2025. Check your flock linkage status by visiting your €uroStar profile through your online account. Flock linkage will be updated after all the 2025 lambing data has been submitted to the database, generally available in mid-May.
Friday Night Intake
In 2025, all rams are required to pass through intake on the Friday evening, with no exceptions.
Intake of all rams will be taking place on Friday 22nd August between 5-8pm. Friday night intake is being put in place to facilitate an earlier sale start time.
Final entries
The deadline for receipt of general entries will be 12pm (midday) Tuesday, August 5th
Number of Rams Eligible for Entry
The size of the flock is determined by the number of pedigree ewes that lambed down to a ram of the same breed. If a breeder has more than one breed, they are eligible to enter rams from each breed.
It is worth noting, that these numbers may be subject to change, depending on the volume of entries.
| No. of Pedigree ewes lambed per breed | No. of Rams |
| 1-19 Ewes | 3 |
| 20-39 Ewes | 4 |
| 40+ Ewes | 5 |
Sheep Ireland Ram Sale – Dates to Remember |
|
| Recommended date to order DNA sampling kits via your SI account | End of May |
| Recommended date to send DNA to the lab | Beginning of June |
| Last date for sending DNA samples to the lab | June 20th |
Deadline for sale pre-entries |
Fri June 27th |
| Deadline for final entries | 12pm, Tues August 5th |
| Provisional sales catalogue published | Fri August 8th |
| Sale substitutes deadline | 10am, Mon August 18th |
| Final sale catalogue generated | Mon August 18th |
| Sheep Ireland Sale | Sat August 23rd |