Pat Maher

Pat is a former conventional dairy farmer, who is now in organic conversion and transitioning to a suckler enterprise. He farms 24 hectares (59 ac) on the fertile edges of the Golden Vale in Cashel Co. Tipperary. He previously was a derogation farmer and farming intensively. However, he hasn’t been using sprays for the last ten years, as he has witnessed the harm they have done to insect life. He has also been setting clover and reducing urea use in the past few years, as he doesn’t want to be farming as intensively anymore.

He has a keen interest in biodiversity, especially after doing a course at the Cabragh Wetlands in Thurles. He has always nurtured hedgerows on his farm, and this year hosted a hedge-laying event on his land, and he hopes to hold another later in the year. He is a fierce advocate for proper hedgerow management, as he sees how poorly managed hedges get diseased and die-off. He recognises that hedgerows should be valued as having an essential purpose – providing shelter for animals. Also, he notes that ‘a laid hedge will sequester 5 or 6 times more carbon than what a hedge normally would, the laying thickens it up at the bottom’. There is also an old quarry in the middle of his land that he has fenced off and allowed to return to woodland and delights in seeing the impressive cowslip specimens inside.

Pat was awarded the Michael Hickey Hedgerow Award in 2024 for his outstanding hedgerows. The award was commissioned in the memory of Ambassador Michael Hickey who sadly passed away in early 2024, he was also the nominator of Pat for the Ambassador Awards.

NOMINATOR: Michael Hickey, Farming for Nature Ambassador
NOMINATION: I am nominating Pat Maher of Freighduff, Cashel, Co. Tipperary. Pat is a sixth generation farmer working 60 acres of land. He milks 40 cows within sight of the Rock of Cashel. From childhood Pat had a fascination with all things natural. When he took over the running of the land his interest was mainly grasses. Gradually, due to the shelter they provided, this interest extended to hedgerows. He wondered about the variety of trees and so his appreciation of the birds who carried the seeds grew.

Over the years he experimented with his hedges, allowing some to grow into tree lines providing nesting sites for a whole different group of birds. This interest caused him to reach out to others of similar mind. He took the Leader funded Biodiversity course at Cabra Wetlands. Lately he initiated a hedge laying and cutting demonstration on his own farm. This successful open day was held on his farm in conjunction with Hedgerows Ireland and Birdwatch Ireland and saw 150 people enjoy a morning of events. Pat is also very active in his community being a member of Cashel Lions club as well as chairperson of the Ardmail Historical society.