Ballybay Mart Cattle Sale

What to Expect

Ballybay Livestock Mart holds its cattle sale every Saturday at the yard on Main Street. Bullocks, heifers and fat cows go through the ring from 11am and calves follow at 12pm. It is one of only two marts listed for County Monaghan in the national mart directory, the other being Castleblayney, and it remains the main outlet for farmers around Ballybay and the drumlin country of south Monaghan.

The yard fills from mid-morning as farmers bring stock in for weighing and penning, and buyers walk the pens before the ring opens. This is a working sale rather than a visitor attraction, but the ringside gallery is open to anyone who wants to watch, and it gives an unstaged look at how the local farming economy still runs week to week, from penning through to the auctioneer’s call. Prices for store cattle, weanlings and cull cows are the whole point of the morning, and the trade at Ballybay is reported on regularly in the farming press. The mart also runs occasional special and pedigree sales through the year, advertised separately from the standard Saturday trade, so it is worth ringing ahead if a particular class of stock is the reason for the trip.

Good to Know

• Date: Saturday 15 August 2026, then every Saturday
• Time: bullocks, heifers and fat cows from 11am, calves from 12pm
• Venue: Ballybay Livestock Mart, Main Street, Ballybay
• Price: free to attend as a spectator
• Contact: 042 974 1785
• Recurrence: weekly, all year round
• Note: occasional special and pedigree sales run outside the Saturday cadence

Getting There

The mart is on Main Street in the centre of Ballybay, with yard parking for those bringing stock in and on-street spaces nearby for anyone calling in to watch. Ballybay is on the R162 and R183, roughly twenty minutes from both Monaghan town and Castleblayney, and sits on the Dromore River among the lakes of south Monaghan, which makes for a good walk once the sale is over. There is more to see in Ballybay and across Co. Monaghan.