For 23-year-old apprentice butcher, Ebony Murtagh, the challenge of overcoming the traditional gender stereotype that has become a hallmark of her industry, has been one she has taken in her stride.
The Armagh woman acknowledged that while there are increasingly more women joining the trade, it remains a “very male-dominated industry”.
This lack of representation has only fueled her professional ambitions to prove herself and to challenge anyone who may mistakenly doubt her capabilities.
Murtagh told Agriland that she is often met with a surprised reaction from strangers who ask her what she does for a living.
“I do get the shock factor when I’m talking to people who don’t know me and who ask what I do for work.
“When I tell them I’m a butcher, they say, ‘oh, really? I wouldn’t have thought that’.”
Unlike much of her peers, Murtagh does not hail from a butcher dynasty. Instead, her passion for the craft was sparked when at 15-years-of age, she started working part-time as a deli assistant in her local butchers, M&W Meats, where she is still employed today.
She took a brief hiatus from the butcher’s shop for two years, before making her return at 18, whereupon she asked to relocate to the butchering side of the business, after realising her vocation.
“I just constantly wanted to learn how to do what the boys were doing, and I would have always been asking questions and getting them to teach me how to do things.
“After a year of working in the butcher’s end, my boss put me on to the apprenticeship course. He introduced me to the tutor in the college and it just sort of spiraled from there,” she added.
Murtagh gained her level two meat and poultry industry skills apprenticeship diploma from the Southern Regional College in Portadown, Co. Armagh.
During the two-year apprenticeship, Murtagh spent one day on campus acquiring the theory of the trade and the rest of the week applying that knowledge in the workplace.
She has since progressed onto the level three apprenticeship in food management, where she is continuing to upskill.
Her talent was recognised at the 2025 Northern Ireland Apprentice Awards on March 26, where she was named ‘Apprentice of the Year,’ a mere day before she jetted off to Paris to compete in the apprenticeship division of the World Butcher Challenge.
Murtagh was put thorough her paces during the two-and-a-half hour competition, which required her to break down, prepare and present a side of lamb, two whole chickens, a loin of pork, and a beef rump, in as many creative options as possible.
While narrowly missing a ranking, Murtagh described the experience of rubbing shoulders with some of the top butchers in the world and showcasing her passion for the craft on an international stage as “absolutely amazing”.
“As soon as I finished the competition, I was like, ‘I’m never doing that again’ – it was probably the most stressful two and half hours of my life. But after a couple of hours, I had already changed my mind.
“It was an incredible experience to be able to do what I love in front of so many people and to just be among my peers, who are considered to be some of the top butchers in the world and who like me, really, really appreciate the trade,” she explained.
Murtagh described the butcher community as “one big family” who “love to see other butchers thrive” and where the sharing of ideas and trading of inspiration is commonplace.
Social media has only compounded this, the young butcher explained, who has observed first-hand the benefits that an online presence can bring to a business in terms of generating greater engagement with customers.
“My boss would have a really good audience on Instagram and Facebook. I’ve been trying to get him to get onto TikTok, but he’s just not quite there yet,” she added.
She accredits her boss for fostering her passion and for allowing her the freedom to exercise her own initiative behind the counter, particularly in terms of product development and design, which she reports is where her talents shine.
Aside from the physicality and technicality of the craft, butchering enables the young apprentice to channel her creativity and innovation, which according to Murtagh, is necessary in order for a butcher to survive and compete against supermarkets.
When asked what she would tell other young woman who may consider following in her footsteps, Murtagh responded without hesitation:
“Oh, I would say go for it. It is one of the best things I ever did. Generally, people don’t expect you to be able to do what you can do, which gives you an even greater drive to show everyone that you can do everything that a man can do, and more.”
