Smallholding

Armagh

13 • Updated 3 months ago

We live in a beautiful area of County Down on our small sheep farm. It is quite rural but fairly central to several towns. We have a beautiful view of the Mourne Mountains and are a mere twenty minutes away from Newcastle, a beautiful coastal town in Northern Ireland. Belfast is 45 minutes by car, and we are within 20-30 minutes of many other towns. There are so many areas to explore in the area if you like walking, climbing, mountains, seaside towns and varied places to enjoy nights out. These include folk and easy musical nights with relaxed atmosphere. There are also many historical National Trust properties, both architectural and scenic within 1-2 hours. We would like some help with the care of the sheep especially during the lambing time. This would include some late nights or early mornings! Sheep have no sense of timing when it comes to lambing! We would also like a little help with light housework and gardening. We live with our son and daughter and Smudge the family cat. We also have sheepdogs for working with the sheep. I am a full time farmer and my wife is a nurse in a local hospital. Our neighbours on both sides of us are also family so there is always someone to help answer any questions. Organic methods: We fertilise with slurry and no man made fertilisers. We cut our own silage for winter feed and have had a recent soil analysis to gauge how beneficial this is. Current projects: We are currently lambing and there are late nights and early mornings but the rewards are great. Internet access available

Learning opportunities

Grain farming

Sheep or goat farming

Meat processing

Host type

Self-sufficiency property

24.3 Hectares | 60 Acres

Accommodation

2 WWOOFers

Bedroom

Children not accepted

Pets not accepted

Meals

Omnivore

Length of stay

1 day (local)

Weekend

Less than a week

1-2 weeks

3-4 weeks

Paddy

Member since 2019

Languages spoken: English

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Response rate: 96% Response time: typically within 5 days

Protomaps | © OpenStreetMap

Armagh

My past WWOOFers

Camille

May 2026 • 92 - Hauts-de-Seine, France

Grace

April 2026 • Maine, United States

Manon

April 2026 • 09 - Ariège, France

Dani

March 2026 • Dublin, Ireland

Kay

March 2026 • California, United States

1 - 5 / 23

Feedback

Dani

Ireland • March 2026

I was not prepared for how much an experience could change me, and I couldn’t have had a more interesting and heart-filled time with Paddy & Louise! All the reviews are true — it’s hard work but it’s rewarding. Unless you were already a midwife, you’re never prepared for how it feels to help bring life into the world, but it's an incredible opportunity to try. P & L were both patient and kind; even though they’ve been doing this for decades, they bring you up to speed and explain the WHY behind things. I loved spending the days preparing the pens, organizing the new lambs, roaming the rolling green hills, and taking trips into Newcastle. Like most livestock farms, your hours here won't be cookie cutter. But for all the time you spend working, P & L make sure you get some rest and chances for fun (I learned how to crochet! I got to play multiple musical instruments! I had an absolute blast at Macken's pub!). If you are curious, kind, and are willing to get your hands dirty, you'll leave P & L's with a sense of pride and belonging. I truly hope to be back some day.

Danielle

Canada • July 2025

I had an AMAZING time with Paddy and Louise. I was lucky enough to spend a couple weeks helping during the lambing period and learned an incredible amount! I loved our daily coffee dates, excursions around the area, and evening fires. Paddy and Louise welcomed me with open arms and made sure I was comfortable and taken care of at each point of my stay. If you are a hard worker, enjoy staying active and busy, and approach each task with curiosity and excitement.. you will fit in well here. Especially safe for female travellers (with a care basket in the bathroom and everything!). I am grateful for my time here, the experiences I shared, and the friendships I made. Love you lots <3 Looking forward to next year!!!

Natasha

United Kingdom • May 2025

You will find that a lot of the reviews say that Paddy and Louise treat you like family and I can confirm this; they really took you as one of their own family members and there was plenty to do on the farm such as feeding the sheep, rounding up the sheep, carrying food, fixing gates, fences and cutting back blackwood and you may even get to ride in a tractor and often on Paddy's quad bike! Some days we also went to Newcastle and one evening we went to a local pub with live music playing which was lovely! There was a great balance between farm work, getting to know the local towns, taking in the picturesque scenery and lively banter after working.

Reply from Paddy

Natasha was very reserved when we first met and getting to know her was lovely. We indeed feel like we are family. She has a very creative personality and there was nothing nicer than listening her play the guitar at the end of the day. Natasha was a hard worker and happily undertook any tasks we asked of her. It was the end of the lambing when Natasha was with us and as such there was more work in looking after the sheep and lambs in the fields rather than actually still lambing. Nothing was a problem for her, and she was a valued team member. We thoroughly enjoyed the time Natasha spent with us and wish her well in her future travels. Louise & Paddy.

Marion

Austria • April 2025

Paddy and Louise are very welcoming people. Paddy is a passionate farmer and both of them are warm-hearted and love to laugh. There was time to enjoy the peace and quiet and the wonderful scenery - something I really had to learn again and which did me good. And on the other hand, the work can also be physically demanding - which was also good ... then you have to be quick ("schnell, schnell") and everyone has to run in time, close gates immediately or stand still at the right time. ;-D It was fun and a great experience for me and I´m very grateful they gave me the chance to get to know their way of living & working and the lovely Northern Irish accent - although it was hard in the beginning - I love that accent.

Reply from Paddy

Marion came to us to work with the sheep during lambing and was a great asset to our team. She was hard working and was such an easy person to develop a friendship with that will be treasured. She saw what needed done and just got on with it. She cared for the lambs being bottle fed with care and a gentleness that was lovely to see. Any host that Marion would go to in the future would be a very fortunate host indeed. We wish her well anion well in all aspects of her life and look forward to meeting again. We hope to catch up in holiday mode at some point.

Lila

Switzerland • April 2025

Paddy and Louise are two wonderful people. They are very welcoming and take great pleasure to include woofers in their daily lives. From the first days I felt at ease and safe on their farm. They were attentive to my needs and I also laughed a lot with them. I enjoyed living with them, discovering their way of life and meeting the people around them. I think it's important to be comfortable in English for the lambing period because sometimes it was essential to understand each other. Working with sheep can be demanding, some births are complicated and it can be emotionally difficult but it is a pleasure to work and learn with them, they explained everything we did and answered all my questions. Their sheeps are fantastic and the grounds are magnificent. I would love to come back and see them again, especially Smudge ;) Thank you paddy and Louise :)

Phoebe

Singapore • April 2024

Wwoofing with Paddy and Louise was very fruitful and heartwarming. We learnt a lot about sheep and you can really see the love they have for the animals while taking care of them. We were very touched to experience the birth of many newborns, although some could be more difficult than others. We also enjoyed taking walks to check the sheep, and the view of sheep field is unforgettable. Although initially had some communication issues, we managed to understand each other and learn to communicate more smoothly. They are also very knowledgeable and you can learn a lot about Northern Ireland from them. During our time there, we were fortunate enough to have some time to check out the harbour, Castlewellan’s Peace Maze and many other beautiful parts of the area. We also saw other farmers and learnt a lot about their livelihood. I will never forget the time we had wwoofing here and would like to go back again if possible, just to see how the sheep we bottle fed are.