66 The Irish Naturalist. - July, 



have been mostly red or black. They were famous milkers, 

 required little care and abounded all over the plain country. 

 A maich smaller breed was the Kerry, and this was either 

 red, brindled or black in colour. This second native breed 

 had small heads with rather short horns turning upward. 

 Now this breed still exists in its pure form in the mountains 

 of Kerry and Cork. Formerl}^ it seems to have ranged 

 all over the country. 



The third race or breed was termed the " Irish long- 

 horn " by Sir William Wilde. It was similar to, but not 

 identical with the Lancashire and Craven breed. While 

 many heads had wide spreading horns and only slightly 

 curved, the great majorit}^ of the horns turned in so 

 completely that they crossed either in front or behind the 

 mouth. These- cattle were generally red or brindled and 

 grew to a great size. The thick hide was valuable. The 

 breed was comimon chiefly in Roscommon. Even in Sir 

 \Mlliam Wilde's time it was almost extinct, and had been 

 replaced by the more modern '' short-horn." The fourth 

 breed which is hornless, was known and is still known as 

 " the mo^dey," or " moyleen " — probably a corruption of 

 the Irish w^ord " maotlin," meaning a hornless cow. It is 

 either dun, black or white in colour, very rarely miottled. 



Of these four native breeds which existed in Ireland, 

 according to Sir WiUiam Wilde, about a hundred years 

 ago, two have survived to the present day, namely, the 

 Kerry and the hornless. The former is still largel}^ confined 

 to the mountainous region of the south-west, whereas the 

 other is only found in a few examples in various parts of the 

 country Prof. Wilson tells us that there are one or two 

 herds picked up by owners who wish to keep the breed 

 alive. He entirely disagrees with Sir William Wilde 's' 

 statement that this breed is ever black. He is positive 

 about its being always yellow. As to the origin of the: 

 hornless cattle, Prof. Wilson is of opinion that the}^ were 

 originally brought to Ireland from Scandinavia many 

 denturies ago.^ i 



-f— ■ ^t: '■ ■ — -^ 



- 1 Wilson, James: The ScaiTctinavian origin of the hornless cattl^ of 

 the British Isles, Sc. Pfoc. R. Dublin Soc, vol. xii. (N.S.), 1909. 



