Cattle

Irish Moiled

Watchlist; Category 3, Vulnerable.

The Irish Moiled is a medium sized hornless breed, red in colour and characteristically marked by a white line or ‘finching’ on the back and underparts, but they can vary from white with red ears and muzzle to nearly all red. The name Moile (or Mael or Moal) comes from the Gaelic meaning ‘little round’ or ‘mound’ describing the distinctive shape of the polled head. It is a hardy dual-purpose breed, traditionally producing both milk and meat from poorer quality grazing.

The breed was popular throughout Ireland in the 1800s being superseded by the Shorthorn during the early part of the 20th century and later by the British Friesian. The decline in numbers was slower in Northern Ireland where, by the late 1970s, the breed numbered only thirty breeding females and two bulls in two herds. The Society was formed in 1926 but declined in parallel with the cattle numbers. It was re-formed in 1982.

The Breed Society has introduced a DNA testing programme to ensure validity of pedigrees and the integrity of this important gene pool.

www.irishmoiledcattlesociety.com [1]

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