BAARNEY McKenna, a two year old pygmy goat, will represent Clare at this year’s annual Nose of Tralee competition.
Baarney’s brother Baanjo represented Clare in the competition last year but was unsuccessful. This year, their owner Maddy Dunne hopes that the novelty and uniqueness of her entry will pay off.
Giving some background to her two pets, Maddy explains that “Baarney will be two in September. Baanjo represented Clare last year. I’m a proud Clare woman so I just wanted something to represent that as well. The two boys are solely pets. I have a border collie as well called Friday whose their chief minder”, the Kilimer woman adds.
Daughter of the renowned folk singer, Patrick ‘The Pecker’ Dunne, Maddy notes that the pygmy goats make for ideal pets due to their independence, although some close care is still necessary “They kind of do their own thing. In the winter time, you’d have to mind them and put them in because with their coats they’re not waterproof”.
“You couldn’t put jackets or anything on them either because that’s how they regulate their temperature. You have to keep them in in the winter when it’s wet or there’s bad weather. During the summer it’s a lot handier because they’d just be out grazing”, she continues.
While Baanjo received great support from the people of Clare, he was ultimately unsuccessful in being crowned 2026 Nose of Tralee. Maddy is still hopeful that Baarney will go far this year however. “If he gets the support and people get behind him we could be talking again the end of August”, Dunne told this writer.
Baarney is the only goat entered into this year’s competition with the other 31 entries all being either cats or dogs, a factor which Maddy identifies could work to his advantage “That would be a kind of an advantage to him that he’s the only goat in it, he’d have the bit of uniqueness compared to the other entries. We’re hoping for that, it didn’t give us the edge last year”.
Voting for this year’s Nose of Tralee is open from now until the 18th of August when the winner will be crowned
