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The Irish Moiled is an ancient hardy
dual-purpose breed. The name of the breed relates to it's characteristic of
being naturally hornless or polled, and is derived from the Gaelic word 'Mael'
or 'Maoile'. The Irish Moiled is medium sized .
Good examples of the breed should show evidence of ability to produce both meat
and milk. Quality is to be preferred to excessive size as the Irish Moiled
should be an economical producer. It should be fine boned with legs of medium
length, not excessively short as in extreme beef types, or excessively long as
in extreme dairy types.
The preferred colour is a rich red with a white line down the full length of the back, white tail, white underline and white udder. Yellow dun or plum coloured animals are acceptable as are white animals with red ears, with or without some red, dun or plum colour on their sides. But in all cases the back, tail , underline and udder should be white. There should be no black hairs in the body coat. The head should be naturally polled, prominently domed with no trace of horn. The eyes, which should be prominent with a docile expression are set rather high. The muzzle, which may be pink or greyish, should be fairly broad with prominent nostrils. The ears should be fairly large. The head should be mottled, a lighter colour tan the body but not completely white. The eyebrows should be preferably dark, and there should be some brown around the muzzle. RECENT HISTORY During the 1960’s and 1970’s the Irish Moiled breed faced extinction. In 1979 a survey showed that there were only thirteen pure bred cows remaining. These animals were to be found in just two herds, the Maymore herd of Mr J Nelson of Killyleagh Co. Down and the Glenbrook herd of Mr David Swann of Dunsilly, Antrim. It is thanks to these two breeders that the breed survives. All the Irish Moiled Cattle extant are descended from these two herds. Mr Nelsons Maymore herd had been based on foundation cattle from the Derryboy herd of Mr Thomas Lindsay of Crossgar. The Glenbrook herd of David Swann was based on a young bull and two heifers from Mr Cooper’s Derrylecka herd and around four females from Major Perceval-Maxwell’s Balldugan herd, which was sold in 1963. The Glenbrook herd was a dairy herd making up the bulk of David Swann’s dairy cattle. Over a long period they proved themselves to be hardy economic producers of quality milk. The small genetic base and the difficulty in obtaining licensed bulls caused both Mr Swann and Mr Nelson to establish upgrading schemes. The Swann’s upgraded from shorthorn females and the Nelson’s from both Hereford and Red Lincoln males. The records of the Glenbrook line are rather more complete than those of the Maymore line. The Glenbrook line derived from seven named pure foundation animals and is much the most important source of pure Moiled animals. The Maymore line had two named foundation animals and around eight un-named but “declared pure” Moileds. During the early 1980’s a few enthusiastic breeders in conjunction with the National Trust the RBST and Belfast zoo revived the Irish Moiled Cattle Society. A new Herd Book was produced in May 1983 showing twenty-seven full pedigree females and four full pedigree males. Numbers have shown a healthy increase in the last ten years and the breed ,although still very rare, was taken off the class1 critical list of the RBST in 2004.
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