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Also
known by: Irish Polled
- Irish Moiled
cattle only has in the region of 180 females making it currently
one of the rarest cattle breeds on the planet.
- The name
Moile means polled or hornless. It is of medium size with a varied
colouration, characteristically red in colour marked by a white
line or 'finching' on the back and under parts, but can vary from
white with red ears to nearly all red.
- The Irish
Moiled is developed in northwestern Ireland and is used for both
meat and milk production.
- Some sources
credit establishes their ancestry with the cattle brought with
the Vikings. in the 8th and 9th century.
- Various
events in agricultural history have forced the breed into decline.
One of these was the 1949 Agricultural Act, which meant that in
order to register a bull, its dam had to have recorded milk yields.
Many Irish Moiled keepers did not keep such records. By the 1960s
the decline was so dramatic that by the 1970's the breed had been
reduced to less than 30 females maintained by two breeders in
Northern Ireland - David Swan of Dunsilly and James Nelson of
Maymore.
- The Society
was formed in 1926 to develop and improve the breed. In 1982 the
Society was revived with the encouragement of the Rare Breeds
Survival Trust.
 
 
Michaela
& Paul Heathcote, Isle of Wight.
Tel:01983 840917 answerphone.
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