Ireland has some of the fastest sheep shearers in the world.Facebook/The Irish Times
Ireland is home to approximately 3.3. million sheep and a multi-million dollar wool industry, so it’s no surprise that Ireland boasts some of the most talented professional sheep-shearers in the world.
Take, for example, Ivan Scott from Donegal who holds two Guinness World Records titles for sheep-shearing. Scott broke the world record when he sheared 820 sheep in nine hours. He holds another record for the fastest time to shear a sheep – he sheared a single sheep in an impressive 37.9 seconds. The 33-year-old professional shearer has also won the All-Ireland Sheep Shearing Championship title eight times.
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Ninety-five percent of Ireland's wool is exported, and the country's wool industry is worth about €12 million.
Every sheep in Ireland has to be sheared at least once a year, and, with over 3 million sheep in the country, you can imagine that these shearers are able to get in a lot of practice!
Check out this video from the Irish Times, showing competitive sheep shearers in action.