6 Scientific Proceedings^ Royal Dublin Society. 



branching north and south from the great plain, while, even in the less 

 fertile parts of the country, the transition had well begun. For instance, 

 Lord Massereene had imported Longhorns to Antrim as early as 

 1735.' 



Arthur Young reports having seen at the Ai'chbishop of Armagh's in 

 the North and at Lord Doneraile's in the South some of the breed we 

 now call the Shorthorn which was soon to take the Longhorn's place in 

 driving out the native cattle, and eventually to drive out the Longhorn 

 itself. He reports liaving also seen a few Herefords and Devons, and later 

 writers speak of the increasing importation of Devons, Herefords, and 

 Shorthorns, especially Shorthorns. 



The preference for the English breeds was so great that the old native 

 race existed pure only in a few districts — indeed, its character had been 

 forgotten in many — and, by the middle of the nineteenth century, it was 

 practically extinct in all but its last strongholds — Kerry and Donegal. 



What were the characters of the native cattle on the one hand, and of 

 the imported cattle on the other ? 



Unfortunately we have no statement as to the colour of the original 

 Irish cattle that can be taken with absolute confidence. Tlie earliest state- 

 ment is " in a letter written in 1580 and preserved in the Record Office 

 among the Lish mss. Sir Nicholas White, Master of the Rolls in Ireland, 

 says : — . . . ' The native cattle were black'^.' '' But there are no further 

 references to the subject till the beginning of the nineteenth century. The 

 majority of the writers of that date say that the native cattle were black, 

 but some assert that there were other colours, namely, red, brindle, and 

 also black with white markings on the body, on the head, and along the 

 back. In connexion witli this point, however, it must be remembered that 

 the native cattle were pure only in a few places by the beginning of the 

 nineteenth century ; that many cattle bearing these other colours and 

 markings had already been brought into the country ; and that few of the 

 writers referred to were able to discriminate between the pure native cattle 

 and others that had been crossed for generations. Tliere is, however, other 

 evidence to show that the native Irish cattle were black. The proof is not 

 absolute ; but it is such that any other theory is scarcely possible. Let us 

 summarize it : — 



(a) The native Irish cattle were of the same race as the native Celtic 

 cattle of great Britain. 



' Dubourdieu's Hnrvey of Antrim, 1S12. 



^ Houseman and Sinclair's Sistory of the Devon Breed of Cattle, p. 21. 



