Horse Tales: Ancestral journey to Ireland: Learning my ancestors raised historical cattle
This Horse Tales column will be a bit different, as it’s more about cattle than horses.
We’ve just returned from an unforgettable adventure in Ireland, from coast to coast, from Dublin to Galway – a wonderful, magical journey that led us deep into the quiet countryside. This was no ordinary vacation, but an ancestral pilgrimage so I could stand on the land my great-great-grandfather Patrick Hand farmed in the mid-1800s in County Cavan. We continued onward to Killadysart, finding the manor house at Ross Hill where my great-great-grandfather Michael O’Brien was born in 1813, overlooking the River Shannon.
During our stay in Kingscourt, County Cavan, we attended the same church our family did in the 1800s. St. Mary’s is a beautiful structure of world-class artistry that houses a globally renowned collection of historic stained-glass windows. Its history dates back over two centuries. After meeting new friends Fr. Gerry MacCormack, his secretary Maria and choir director Ann, we were able to visit and stand on the soil of my great-great-grandfather Patrick Hand’s farm in nearby Drumiller, now owned by Ann’s brother-in-law. We picked the abundant sweet and juicy blackberries that have grown along the stone walls for centuries and enjoyed seeing the friendly cattle that still graze those fields, possibly descendants from his original stock in the mid-19th century.
I learned that during that time, their 40-acre farm in Drumiller, County Cavan, was considered a substantial, mid-sized holding for a family farm. Because of the unique drumlin topography of that area, characterized by wet, heavy soils and hilly terrain, my grandfather Patrick would have kept hardy, dual-purpose (milk and beef) cattle. They were most probably native Irish Moiled cattle. Most likely they were managing a herd of roughly a dozen or so adult cows plus their calves. (Given the wet Cavan ground, it required roughly two acres of pasture to support one mature cow for the season.) He would keep the calves for one to two years, letting them graze the hills before driving them to market to sell to dealers who shipped them onward.
Patrick would milk the cows to make butter, which was County Cavan’s primary cash product at the time. My great-great-grandmother Anne and her daughters would have run the lucrative dairy side of the farm, as in 19th-century Cavan, the ladies managed the milking, skimming and churning of butter. Their older children, John and Thomas, would have served as farm laborers, managing the physically demanding task of cutting hay with scythes, handling the heavy Irish Moiled cattle and digging trenches in Cavan’s wet soil.
It was fascinating to discover that I am descended from cattle farmers, and to learn about the Irish Moiled, one of the oldest of the surviving indigenous breeds of Irish cattle (and the only surviving domestic livestock native to northern Ireland) in the 1800s. The breed was popular throughout Ireland and historically thrived particularly well in the hill-and-hollow drumlin country of South Ulster, including the hill farms of Cavan.
The word “Moiled” comes from the Gaelic word “maol,” meaning hornless. The Irish Moiled Cattle Society uses the anglicized form of that Gaelic word and describes them as being mostly red-coated with a distinct white stripe down their back and underside, with brown ears and a brown nose. They were praised for their milking qualities and the high butterfat content of their milk meant they were considered the ultimate “family cow,” as they produced both rich milk for butter and high-quality beef on their diet of rough, unimproved pasture.
The origin of this ancient breed of polled cattle is said to have been as far back as prehistoric times – skeletal remains have been dated as far back as 640 CE – as evidenced by archaeological excavation and ancient Irish literature.
I also learned that Patrick operated at a highly commercial level, as evidenced by his trips to the major Dundalk market town rather than the local markets in Kingscourt, where he was likely selling a major herd of yearlings or a season’s worth of salted butter to large exporters. Along with the other farmers, Patrick had taken his animals and produce to the farther-away market in Dundalk, County Louth, in July 1883, and it was necessary for the farmers to spend a few days in town where the sales took place. When it was time to come home, the men looked for my great-great-grandfather, who was in his room in the inn where they stayed. They found him kneeling at his bed, most likely saying his prayers, when he had died of a heart attack. My great-great-grandmother and her sons continued to manage the farm, but after a time it was decided that the three oldest daughters should come to America, where they were met by and lived with a cousin until jobs could be found.
After years of separation from her three daughters, Anne decided to come to America too, so the sons sold the farm and possessions and the rest of the family also emigrated.
Today the farm in Drumiller still raises cattle; although still dual-purpose, the breeds have shifted to Fleckvieh and Charolais. The Fleckvieh breed originated in Central Europe during the 19th century by crossing local continental stock with Swiss Simmental cattle. It was introduced to Ireland in the late 20th century. Charolais, the distinct, heavily-muscled beef breed native to the Charolles region in France, traveled to Ireland much later (in the early 1960s, establishing the foundation for modern terminal beef crossing), and are widely used across Irish farms today for crossbreeding because of their rapid growth rates.
Having been a horse enthusiast over my entire life, it was exciting to pass by Muff, home of the historic Muff Horse Fair, on the way to visit my great-great-grandfather’s farm.
More on the Muff Horse Fair in the next Horse Tales!
by Judy Van Put
