Anyone that attends an official pedigree Limousin sale in Ireland will be familiar with the name of George Candler, the Irish Limousin Cattle Society auctioneer. George, a native of county Roscommon, is the son of the late James Conry Candler who was the chairman of Roscommon Mart and who in turn was a friend of Mick Gibbons, Chairman of Kilkenny Mart. Hence why George ended up in Kilkenny. George commenced work at Kilkenny Co-Op Livestock mart in 1972 as a trainee auctioneer and has been a full time employee of the mart ever since.
In addition to auctioneering, George is a man of many varied interests. For instance, many will know him from his weekly mart report which he delivers each Thursday evening on KCLR FM. Residing in Kilkenny city with his wife Sharon, he is deeply involved with charity work in Kilkenny and does numerous charity auctions along with various other fundraising activities. George is also a member of Kilkenny Lyons club. Recognition of his involvement in the different areas of charity and time devoted to People in Need have come in the form of two awards – Kilkenny Person of the Year in 2003 and winner of the Humanitarian Category that same year.

Music also plays a large role in George’s life. He is involved in the Kilkenny Musical Society, the Friary Folk Choir and the Kilkenny Gospel choir where he has a solo spot on a recently released CD.

George also has a keen interest in sport and is involved in coaching the Kilkenny Rugby team at under 13 and under 14 levels. Roscommon may be a predominantly football county however it comes as no great surprise that George has a keen interest in hurling.

Nicholas and Barbara Grubb, having met Nicholas through Kilkenny Livestock Mart, introduced George to the Limousin Society in the early 1980’s. In the early years, there were only a small number of sales held however with the rise in membership and the subsequent increase in pedigree Limousin cattle, the Society now stage nine official sales annually, with George being the official auctioneer at each of them. George has acquired a deep knowledge of the breed and has the valuable asset of being able to know the different bloodlines and superior sires as the different lots enter the sales ring.

Breeders have built a relationship with George over the years, some going back to the very first sales in the early 1980’s. Both national and international customers, along with vendors, have come to enjoy George’s style of selling, in particular his jovial banter. He has the ability to entertain a sales ring with humourous comments while still being able to get the very last bid from a customer, even though they may already have shook their head negatively a moment previously.

George Candler, through his professional dedication to his job, coupled with the ability to have built up a relationship with breeders and also having gathered knowledge of the breed has in no doubt been a major asset in the development of the Limousin breed. This makes George a very worthy recipient of the Hall of Fame award on behalf of the Limousin breed.