About us
A sheep farm that got an Aussie by accident
Ciarán's family has farmed the same hill ground outside Tinahely since the 1950s. In 2010 he needed a dog for the ewes and couldn't find a collie he liked, so he bought Ceo, a blue merle Aussie pup, from a farmer-breeder in Co. Waterford. Niamh took her to a show to see what the fuss was about. Ceo became an Irish Champion and the rest of this website followed.
We registered the Fernhill affix with the Irish Kennel Club in 2011 and bred our first litter in 2013. We have bred nine litters since — about one a year, never more than two — and we would rather keep it that way. Every dog still works: sheep and ducks at home, agility and shows at the weekend.
What we breed for, in order: sound hips, elbows and eyes; a steady temperament with a real off-switch indoors; and enough natural working ability that a puppy could go to a farm or a sport home and be good at it. Colour comes last.
Who you will deal with
Niamh Doyle — breeder
Runs the kennel side: the litters, the health testing, the paperwork and most of the phone calls. Competes in agility and shows. Day job: secondary school science teacher in Arklow.
Ciarán Doyle — stock and farm
Farms 140 ewes and trains every dog on stock. Handles the dogs at ASCA trials. Watches every litter for the ones with real working interest.
Our vet
A mixed practice in Aughrim that has known our dogs since 2010. Does our day-3 checks, chips and vaccinations, and talks to families about MDR1 on request.
Registrations and memberships
Fernhill is an affix registered with the Irish Kennel Club (IKC). Every puppy is IKC-registered and goes home with its registration certificate and signed transfer. We follow the IKC Code of Ethics: no bitch is mated before her first birthday or after her eighth, has more than four litters in her life, or more than three in any three years. In practice ours have two or three.
We are members of the Australian Shepherd Club of Ireland and the Australian Shepherd Club of America (ASCA), whose stockdog trials our dogs run in.
We are registered with the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine as a pet seller, DAFM pet seller registration ZPT900147C (Sale or Supply of Pet Animals Regulations 2019). We keep three bitches of breeding age, below the six that require registration as a Dog Breeding Establishment with Wicklow County Council, so we have no DBE number.
