Let me properly introduce myself as I don’t believe I have. If my mother knew of this, I would be getting a good old fashioned clip around the ear! I am, Fiona Madigan, wife to Garrett, and we own and run Garrett’s – Limerick’s Quality Butcher. I was brought up on a farm with six older siblings and all my siblings insist that I was spoiled rotten. This of course is totally untrue! We had pigs on the farm (as I do now) and I remember one particular incidence, when I was young, of me and a sow we had.
My cousins were paying us a final visit on the farm as they were migrating to England. The adults were all gathered in our farm kitchen and all the children went to the hay barn to play. Our sow was mooching around the farmyard and then decided to throw herself down beside the barn. Unknown to me, my cousin covered the sow totally with loose hay. She wasn’t long after having a litter of piglets about 3 months earlier from what I remember, so she was having a well-earned rest. My cousin suggested to me to jump off the barn on to the hay, which was a normal occurrence to us. My first question was had the sow gone and my cousin said eagerly “oh yes, she has”. So I jumped. I landed straight on her stomach and I bounced off her like a trampoline. I was lucky to land on my feet and man, did I run!! I estimate I hit speeds greater than Usain Bolt that day. I legged it as fast as I could down home with her racing after me. She was livid!! I got to the back door of our house and banged it shut just in time before she got into the kitchen. My poor heart was racing and I am sure so was the sow’s.
My father jumped up out of his chair wanting to know what was going on and what had we done to get the sow so vexed. My cousins, of course, thought this was bloody hilarious!! I was just glad to be alive. My cousins were wise enough to stay up in the barn until the sow and my father had calmed down.
I will never forget that day.
Fiona