A secondary school teacher and an army officer might not be the most conventional pair to run a high-performing dairy farm but Aileen Sheehan and Philip O’Leary aren’t your typical farmers. Just four years in dairying, and farming on a fully leased holding, the Cork couple are already turning heads with the technical quality of their milk, their environmental leadership, and the sheer professionalism of their operation.
Philip comes from strong dairy stock, his parents Tim and Catherine O’Leary are well known in Munster farming circles, but Aileen didn’t grow up on a farm. Her father was a school principal, she followed his profession and has applied her education expertise to every aspect of the business: writing SOPs, managing finances, training staff, and mentoring new entrants. “There’s a wealth of untapped talent among secondary school kids looking for part-time work,” she says. “With the right guidance, they can be a phenomenal asset to Irish farming.”
One of those young recruits is Sarah Aherne, who had never set foot in a milking parlour until she started with Aileen and Philip in 2022. Now training as a pharmaceutical technician, Sarah is a vital part of the farm team, along with Aoife O’Leary (an ag student from Donoughmore) and local school student Tadhg Foley.
The farm itself, leased from a former dairy farmer who’d lost the appetite for milking after 40 years, has undergone a transformation. Over 90% of the grazing platform has been reseeded, including multispecies swards and red clover for silage. All fertiliser is applied via GPS and protected urea, while slurry is managed through LESS technology and bunded storage.
They’ve also embraced the European Innovation Partnership (EIP) and ACRES schemes, fencing off all watercourses, planting over 1,800 trees, installing sediment traps, and actively monitoring the Glashaboy stream. Philip uses a birdcall app to log species on the farm and is in friendly competition with his father to see who can spot the most species.
With both working full-time off-farm, efficiency is crucial. A 20-unit Dairymaster parlour with ACRs allows for 90-minute morning and 60-minute evening milkings, with all staff away by 6pm. Sexed semen is being used intensively to generate replacement heifers from the best cows, strengthening herd genetics and reducing the number of male dairy calves, with the herd now achieving a striking EBI of €227 and replacements pushing €285.
What truly distinguishes Aileen and Philip is not just their technical performance but their mindset. Their work-life balance ethos means everyone gets time off, goals are planned in advance, and morale is prioritised. There's a mobile unit on the farm for cooking and rest, and weekly team meetings set the tone for collaboration and learning.
As ambassadors for modern, inclusive and sustainable Irish dairying, Aileen and Philip are already showing what’s possible when science, strategy, and passion collide. What makes this story truly unique is the model itself, two people holding full-time off-farm jobs while running a vibrant dairy herd on a leased holding. It’s highly unusual in Ireland, yet it works so well here that it could serve as a template for other couples passionate about cows but without land of their own.
