User:Patrickcurren13

A HISTORY OF IRELAND'S NATIVE LOWLAND SHEEP In the 12th century it was noted that Irish monks wore black woollen garments. The description "black woollen garments" probably included brown because "long ago sheep were almost all brown (and) the dark colour was eliminated by selection when it was found desirable to dye wool in various bright colours". Remnants of woollen fabrics were found in archaeological deposits at the crannog of Lagore in County Meath in 1935. The find led Start to suggest that the roots of Rubia tinctoria (madder) may have been used by the inhabitants of Lagore to produce a bright red dye for wool in the 10th century A.D. One impact of such a possibility of bringing about colour changes in wool would have been an increased demand for white fleeces, or a preference for white sheep. In subsequent centuries of aggressive Norman, Anglo-Norman and British occupation little was documented about autochthonous Irish livestock. Eviction and displacement of native land owners and their sympathisers sometimes led to movements of livestock from one part of Ireland to another. Thus, the Chevers of Macetown in County Meath had 160 sheep ready for transfer to County Galway when they were displaced in 1641. A description of the sheep was not given but the nature of the terrain suggests that they were native lowland sheep. One hundred and forty years later, in 1784, William Burton Conyngham of Slane in County Meath produced experimental crosses between native sheep of the area and Merino sheep brought in from Spain and Portugal. The cross-bred progeny were not deemed to represent an improvement. The experiment was repeated in 1786 using sheep from Connaught and imported Merinos. The progeny were deemed to have an improved quality of wool which he labelled "Hibernian Superfine" and the results were communicated to Sir Joseph Banks in England. A further century elapsed before a formal description of the native sheep of Roscommon was compiled and a flock-book published. Details of flocks included in that 1896 publication suggested that some of them were traceable in that Connaught county to 1790. However, The Roscommon Sheep Breeders' Association continued as a vibrant body for about 50 years only and by 1990 flocks of Roscommon sheep had disappeared. However, a small number of sheep of Roscommon-type were found in 2007 and some were displayed to the public at Iverk Show. The demise of the Roscommon breed is due, in part, to the fact that Roscommon lambs were slow to mature and another factor was the emergence of The Galway Sheep Breeder's Society in 1922. Thomas Baldwin had stated: "We are of opinion that the Roscommon is on the whole the best sheep for the open plains in the West of Ireland. In well-sheltered districts a cross of the Leicester is found to afford satisfactory results". Seven years later the focus of Baldwin's attention seems to have shifted from Roscommon Sheep to Ballinasloe Sheep in his recommendations for improvements through breeding and selection. It should be noted that Leicester sheep originated in England and that Ballinasloe Sheep was a name given to the sheep of the lowlands of mid-Galway through part of the 19th century. Baldwin's shift of focus may have been influenced by the sheep-breeding work of John Dillon Meldon which was noted by Baldwin in 1874. Meldon probably commenced his attempts at improvement of the native sheep of Galway in the early 1860s, a few years after Corrigan referred to the large native lowland sheep as Cotswolds. A Cotswold breed society was formed in the Cotswold district of England in 1862 and went into decline only to be revived in 1966. The confusion caused by the use of the name "Cotswold" for local sheep in Ireland renders interpretation of the historical references difficult. It seems certain that Corrigan applied the name "Cotswold" to the large lowland sheep of Ireland at a time when Cotswolds embraced a variety of types, one sub-set of which occurred in Ireland, possibly at first associated with monasteries. Meldon in the 1860s assembled 500 native breeding ewes in Galway and brought Border Leicester and Cotswold rams from England to effect improvement.In hindsight, it seems that his work provided a population of improved local sheep that became a foundation stock for further selection and improvement and creation of the Galway Sheep Breed in 1922/23. The meeting that gave rise to the Galway Sheep Breeders' Society was held on 5th November 1922. It is probable that mention of Galway Sheep in Joe Hanly's book and a need to attend to their conservation and improvement may have influenced events. Christy Kerin of Oranmore was an educated and influential person and it is likely that he read Hanly's book. Christy presided over a further meeting of the Society at the Agricultural Station near Athenry on 20/03/1923. The report of the meeting noted that the committee agreed to arrange for a number of ewe inspections and to encourage local agricultural show societies to provide prizes for Galway Sheep at shows. The committee also agreed to present a cup to the Royal Dublin Society for award at Galway Sheep Classes at its Spring Show.The Galway breed of sheep quickly became established and was destined to displace the Roscommon breed, as mentioned above (Curran 1910). The national flock of Galway ewes was estimated to be 296,000 in 1985. The number of pedigree Galway ewes required as a base population to maintain the commercial national flock of Galways would have been much less at that time - perhaps 6,000. Ten years later the number of ewes registered with pedigree status was less than 300 and the breed was declared to have "rare breed" status and to need urgent conservation support to ensure survival. The number of owners of pedigree Galway sheep has increased from 10 in 1994 to about 70 in 2010, although the average flock size has decreased considerably. It is clear that support from Ireland's Department of Agriculture has secured the survival of the breed. Such survival contributes to maintenance of Ireland's agrobiodiversity.