Tim O’Connell Interview

Interview

Tim O’Connell Sells Us On Auctioneering

By TADHG CURTIN

A staple of Kanturk Mart, Tim O’Connell has been working his auctioneering gavel since 1983. Tadhg Curtin got to chat with him about what exactly his job entails.

Tim O’Connell

I got involved because my father died in 1983 and he was one of the founder auctioneers here. The O’Connell’s have been auctioneers here since the beginning, so it’s a long tradition.

Is it just here?

I have my own auctioneering business as well. Farming and that things too, business. When I started off here, it was actually two sales a week – every Monday and Tuesday. Monday was pigs – a substantial amount of pigs came through here, and it was well known for it Tuesday was like today, calves and cattle. With Covid, a lot of auctioneering went online (40% of the marts sales and purchases are done online). The online business has helped the mart business, We were sceptical about it at first, but since it’s come in, it’s the modern way of doing business, it’s become very popular and easy to manage, a great thing being an auctioneer

If you’re encouraging people to get into it, what advice would you give

To become a livestock auctioneer? It has become very difficult. Now to become one you have to go and do an educational course in Dublin, before that you have no practical experience, you have to have a license. Someone is going away and getting educated, and they don’t know if they like it or want to do it and there’s a big fall off. The system is wrong,

I think they should allow young fellas to do a small bit of it under the eye of a licensed auctioneer and then if he likes it and wants to do it, it’s then he should go away and get his education.

I’m fascinated with auctioneering and the rapid speed of calling an auction, how do you preserve your voice?

I suppose that’s years of practice. It doesn’t affect me. I don’t have a sore throat, it’s like a fella working all day with a shovel.

Your voice wouldn’t be gone in the evening?

No. If you take a break, for five minutes it’s good for you, but if you have a flying trade, you enjoy it, Auctioneers enjoy it, if you enjoy it, you keep at it. If you don’t like it, like any job, you get tired and you get, you know upset, and you want to get out. You like the banter, tis good. As regards speed, some fellas are faster than others, it’s all to do with experience. When you’re a young fella, your mother shows you how to tie your shoe, and you have to look down at your shoe but as you get older you do L- R: Liam Murphy Auctioneer, Tim’s father, John O’Connell it without looking. Much the same Auctioneer, Dermot McCarthy Auctioneer and Dan O’Reilly, Ballyheist, Auctioneer. type of thing, it’s all practice. You get to feel the whole system of it.

Tim in the auctioneer’s box, running an auction in Ring One, Kanturk Mart .September 2022.