Shorthorns  in  Scotland  and  Ireland. 
101 
counties  have  given  attention  to  the  breeding  of  Shorthorns.  Among  these 
may  he  mentioned  Lord  Dartrey,  Lord  Clermont,  Major  Hamilton,  of  Brown- 
hall,  Co.  Donegal;  Mr.  W.  Taylor,  Clonrolla  House,  Lurgan;  Mr.  Mulholland, 
M.P. ; Mrs.  Pery,  Coolcronan,  Co.  Mayo ; the  late  Major  O’Reilly  ; Mr.  Watt, 
of  Ramelton,  Mr.  G.  Cather,  Mr.  S.  M.  Alexander,  Viscount  Bangor,  &c.  At 
Clermont  Park,  near  Dundalk,  Lord  Clermont  owns  a very  good  herd,  from 
which  an  excellent  lot  of  young  hulls  have  been  sold.  The  late  Mr.  Lee 
Norman  had  atone  time  an  excellent  herd  in  Co.  Louth,  in  which  some  animals 
imported  from  Sittyton  (now  represented  at  Clermont  Park)  produced  good 
results.  Mrs.  Pery’s  herd  is  made  up  of  very  well-bred  Booth  cattle. 
The  county  of  Limerick  was  early  in  the  race  for  Improved  Shorthorns. 
The  first  of  the  breed  introduced  (about  sixty  years  ago,  it  is  believed)  into 
that  part  of  the  country  were  the  bull  “ Regent  ” and  his  sister,  which  a well- 
known  Master  of  Hounds  and  enthusiastic  sportsman,  the  late  Mr.  G.  Fasbery 
of  Curragh  Bridge,  purchased  for  180  guineas.  “ Regent  ” proved  a valuable 
sire,  and  worked  till  fifteen  years  of  age,  when  he  died,  after  having  been  driven 
from  Castle  Oliver  to  Curragh  Bridge.  He  was  let  for  some  years  at  a fee  of 
seven  guineas,  and  afterwards  at  two  guineas,  and  he  produced  a great  many 
fine  cattle,  whose  rare  properties  were  much  talked  of  throughout  the  country. 
The  earliest  and  perhaps  the  most  celebrated  systematic  breeder  of  Short- 
horns in  County  Limerick  was  the  late  Mr.  John  Christy,  father  of  Mr.  Luke 
Christy,  Carrigeen,  Croom.  In  the  end  of  last  century  Mr.  Christy  had  been 
through  England,  and  was  much  struck  with  the  sheep,  cattle,  and  horses  he 
had  seen  with  Bakewell.  Having  settled  in  county  Limerick  in  the  end  of 
1815,  or  beginning  of  1816,  he  introduced  for  service  among  his  dairy  cows 
a Longhorn  bull.  Soon  after,  however,  his  attention  had  been  attracted  by 
the  wonderful  merit  of  Mr.  Fasbery’s  Shorthorn  bull  “Regent”  and  his  pro- 
duce ; and  this,  followed  by  a visit  to  Captain  Barclay  of  Ury,  in  the  north  of 
Scotland,  convinced  Mr.  Christy  of  the  superiority  of  the  Shorthorn.  He 
therefore  lost  no  time  in  obtaining  possession  of  some  animals  of  the  improved 
breed.  Prior  to  1840  he  kept  no  pedigrees ; but  after  that  he  gave  close 
attention  to  the  building  up  of  a large  and  well-bred  herd.  In  1845  he 
imported  the  bull  “ Shotley  2nd  ” (or  “ King  Ben  ”)  (7494),  and  in  the  fol- 
lowing year  he  brought  over  six  heifers  from  the  herds  of  Lord  Spencer  and 
others.  The  produce  of  many  of  the  earlier-introduced  Shorthorns  fell  into 
the  hands  of  Mr.  Christy,  and  the  character  of  the  herd  he  succeeded  in 
forming  is  attested  by  the  fact  that,  at  his  sale  in  1856,  110  animals  realised 
within  a few  shillings  of  5000?.,  or  nearly  45?.  9s.  a-head,  the  largest  average 
ever  obtained  in  Ireland  for  so  large  a number  of  animals. 
Soon  after  Mr.  Christy  began  to  turn  his  attention  to  Shorthorn  breeding, 
Mr.  Adamson,  who  was  associated  with  Mr.  Holmes  in  the  purchase  of 
Mason’s  “No.  1,”  brought  a few  Shorthorns  into  County  Limerick;  while,  a 
little  later,  Mr.  Atkinson  of  Birdhill  imported  a good  lot  from  England, 
including  the  heifer  “ Miss  Booth,”  which  was  bought  in  Darlington  Market, 
as  a hopeless  breeder,  from  Mr.  John  Booth  of  Killerby,  and  which  became 
the  ancestress  of  some  very  fine  animals.  Mr.  Atkinson's  stock  ultimately 
went  into  Mr.  Christy’s  herd,  a few  of  them  having  for  a time  been  owned  by 
Mr.  Joseph  James,  of  Buncraggy,  Co.  Clare,  and  Mr.  Paul  Gobbett,  of  Limerick. 
About  1840,  and  soon  after,  Shorthorn  breeding  was  enthusiastically  taken 
up  by  Mr.  John  Croker,  Mr.  A.  Croker,  Lord  Clarina,  and  others  in  Co.  Limerick. 
At  a later  period  high-class  herds  were  successfully  maintained  by  Mr.  R. 
Maxwell,  Captain  Ball,  and  Mr.  E.  J.  Smith,  of  Islanmore.  At  Elm  Park, 
although  the  rearing  of  pure-bred  Shorthorns  has  been  given  up,  the  old- 
standing  and  excellent  practice  of  keeping  a first-class  pure-bred  bull  for  the 
use  of  tenants  on  the  estate  is  still  maintained — a system  also  pursued  by  the 
Hon.  Hugh  N.  G.  Massey.  Mr.  E.  J.  Smith’s  herd  at  Islanmore  was  in  its  day  one 
