The Little Lamb Who Won the Internet
With a cuteness quotient that shouldn’t be allowed, Norris the not-so-sheepish Valais Blacknose is a woolly wonder from Kilrea who’s setting the internet alight.
Mandi Millar reports
This isn’t any lamb. This is Norris, the Valais Blacknose lamb, and he’s taking the internet by storm.
With a fan club that stretches from Aghadowey and Ahoghill to America and Australia, Norris and his canine companion Denny the Dachshund are knocking the cute factor out of the park.
But Norris’s story could have been very different had it not been for the dedication of his doting human ‘mummy’, Anne Marie O’Loughlin, who hand-reared him from inauspicious beginnings.
“Norris was a twin born in January and we didn’t think he’d survive,” recalls Anne Marie who, although born into a farming family in Glenravel, never actually farmed until she fell for the Valais, known as the ‘cutest sheep in the world’.
“I took him home and put him with Denny, our Dachshund, the first night. We were up every couple of hours checking on him and eventually he pulled through, becoming best friends with Denny in the process.
“He thinks he’s human and always has to be beside you, but he’s a bit big for that, though I still give him his bottle,” confesses Anne Marie, who is as smitten as the fan club she inadvertently started when she began posting Norris’s antics on her flock’s Facebook profile, Glasshill Valais Blacknose.
“People loved watching him and Denny with my wee grandson Fiacha (5), especially when we went to the beach at Mussenden, Norris’s favourite,” continues Anne Marie, who bought her first, and what was meant to be her only, Valais when she and husband Michael swapped their farm machinery business four years ago for a quiet retirement. They are now busier than ever.
“Michael’s from a farming family but had never farmed either, so when we retired we thought we’d get a couple of goats.
“Then I saw a piece on TV about the Valais, a Swiss breed. I loved the look of them and did a bit of research before I bought Isaac, our first.
“Now I’ve about 30. I say ‘about’ because I never tell Michael the exact number. He doesn’t need to know. After Isaac I bought a couple more and they seemed to multiply at a terrible rate.”
“Michael says he’s not really into the sheep. He’s just the driver when we need transport to the shows, but I’ve caught him having a wee moment with them too so I know the love is there, no matter what he says,” laughs Anne Marie, who is one of around 50 breeders now in Northern Ireland.
“When it comes to breeding though, the difficulty is that because of disease precautions you can’t bring in any stock from GB or the Republic, which can be challenging when you’re looking for new bloodlines.”
But it hasn’t held back the Glasshill Valais which, thanks to Anne Marie’s skilful husbandry, have already taken a Supreme Reserve rosette at Balmoral Show’s grading events.
“I don’t make any money though, which Michael rolls his eyes at,” laughs Anne Marie, but she makes up for it in friendships.
“There’s me and three other girls I’ve got to know, all Valais breeders, and honestly they’ve become like family. We have the best laughs.
“Veronica Higgins from Coleraine was the first I met. Hers is the Causeway flock. We call her Lady V of the Shows because she always turns out dressed to the nines, she used to work in the fashion industry.
“Her husband Brian had bought a Valais for her birthday one year and they were among the first to have the breed in Northern Ireland, so they’re very knowledgeable. I can ring them any hour if there’s a problem at Glasshill and they’ll be straight over.
“We meet up three times a week for coffee, travel to shows in Scotland and we’ve even been to Switzerland to see the sheep in their home setting.”
Number three in the foursome is Limavady’s Lisa Marie McLaughlin, mum of four whose youngest is just eight weeks old and already enjoying those Costa outings.
“She runs the Roe Valley flock and started when her mum called us looking for a Valais for her grandson,” says Anne Marie.
“Veronica has no children herself but she now has a toy corner in the house which Lisa Marie’s ones, and the other kids, all love.
“Lisa Marie’s husband Eoin was brought up with sheep and shears ours, as the Valais thick coat means not everyone will attempt it.
“The fleeces are worthless though some people like them for felting,” continues Anne Marie, who met the fourth member of their group, Coleraine’s Rebecca Henry, at a local show in 2023.
“Rebecca’s career was in insurance before she gave it up to work alongside her husband Philip on their dairy farm.
“They also farm sheep commercially so they’re a great go-to if I’m having any issues. She started her Juraview flock because she wanted something a bit different for the farm.
“Rebecca also has four children. Her youngest, wee Albert, is just nine months old and already loves Veronica’s toy corner,” continues Anne Marie, who enjoys the social side of Valais life as much as anything.
“We do all the agricultural shows together, pack the sandwiches, the drinks, the tents, as well as the kids, and we just have a laugh.
“We’re all doing Balmoral this year though we hadn’t planned to. But when one of us decided to enter, of course we all had to.
“The highest I’ve come there is third and I was delighted with that, but none of us has had a first yet.
“Of course it would be great to win, but if one of us wins, we all win. That’s the fun of it.”
