Irish Moiled - Breed History

Breed History

The Irish Moiled Cow is the oldest breed of cow in Ireland and “the breed has been very successful in proportion to its numbers in open competition with other breeds in the milk recording contests." Although the Irish Moiled Cow really did originate from Ireland, its known location to most is Finland. This is due to the fact that Norseman, such as the Danes, took much of the cattle. The numbers of Irish Moiled Cow left in Ireland made the true Irish cows endangered, and in an effort to replenish the numbers, the Irish Moiled Cattle Society tried to buy cows from Finland. The only problem was that they had to get special permits in order to breed these cows to bring them back. Once the cow had been replenished in Ireland, there was a sharp decline from 1930 to 1970. By the late 1970s there were only 30 cows left in Ireland all owned by one breeder. The cow was becoming extinct and if the demand for Irish Moiled beef had not been required, this species of cow would have died off. Since then, the cow has made a comeback, it is still rare and endangered but is now being produced more widespread throughout Ireland as well as parts of England. There are now around one hundred breeders in the mainland of Ireland as well as another 40 believed to be breeding this cow in England. Another important note of the Irish Moiled Cow is that throughout all the hardships that the breed has faced, they have maintained a pure breed without mixing another pedigree of cow into the mix. This means that the species of Irish Moiled is maintained and healthy.