HE might be a Dub but he was a famous farmhand too in his day – Pat Barry of The Riordans and Bracken fame – and last month he was called upon to present the winner’s prize at the Western Region Texel Club Championships.

Actor Gabriel Byrne though may had a family motive in his role at the prizegiving in Teagasc, Athenry, during the Sheep25 event, with his niece’s husband – Cyril Keane from Maree – taking the accolade for the Champion Texel at the event.

Cyril is married to Caroline O’Loughlin – her mother Breda is a sister of Gabriel Byrne – and the famous actor is no stranger to the West having lived for a time back the years in the South Galway area.

“Gabriel was due to come down for a visit but when he heard we were in Athenry at the Texel Show he decided to come along.

“Margaret Niland, wife of famous Texel breeder Padraic Niland [Chessy], spotted him when he arrived and after that he was asked to present the cup for the Champion Texel to myself.

“He really seemed to enjoy the day in Athenry – it was a very relaxed occasion for everyone – and we were delighted to see him arrive,” Cyril Keane told the Farming Tribune.

Gabriel Byrne, now 75-years of age – but according to observers at the event ‘not looking a day of it – featured in The Riordans from 1978 to 1980, before taking the lead role in another rural soap – Bracken, set in Wicklow – which ran from 1980 to 1982.

Over the decades, the Golden Globe award winner, acted on stage in the Focus Theatre, Dublin and London’s Royal Court Theatre before moving onto television and then films including Defence of the Realm, Lionheart, Enemy of the State, and Vanity Fair.

Now living in Maine, New York, he makes regular return visits to Ireland and to Galway but he hadn’t expected his role as presentation prize-winner to his nephew-in-law on June 21 last.

Cyril Keane, who won the Champion Texel trophy – the Moira Keane Perpetual Cup – for the first time ever, is a well-known suckler and sheep farmer in Maree. The Reserve Champion accolade went to Padraic Niland, Chessy, Ardrahan.

Pictured: Actor Gabriel Byrne about to present the Moira Kenny Perpetual Cup to Cyril Keane, Maree, for his Overall Supreme Texel hogget at the West Region Texel Show in Athenry – along with Mark Priestley [judge]. PHOTO: SWARBER PHOTOGRAPHY.