THE KERRY BREED. 
PLATE V. 
WETHERS, the property of the Right Honourable the Earl of Clare, Mount Shannon, County of 
Limerick; selected from the Old Mountain Breed of Kerry * 
The Breeds of Sheep of Ireland may be divided into two general Classes, those of the mountains, bogs, and moors, and those 
o the plains valleys, and richer county. In the former class, one breed has been described, that of the Wicklow Moun¬ 
tains, which has been seen to be closely allied to the ancient Sheep of Wales. The mountain breeds of other parts of Ireland 
present very different characters, and so little resemble any other breeds of Sheep in the British Islands, that we might suppose 
em t0 mVe f dlStmct par6nta S e ’ dld we not kn ™ great changes produced in the form and characters of the species by the 
agency of food, climate, and situation. It is in the west of Ireland that we naturally seek for the more ancient races of the 
country, and we there find them mingled in blood with one another, and with the imported varieties which have spread over the 
“ T 71 ° aS T SUCh CharaCt6rS “ iHdicate traces of distinct breeds, under the common accept, 
mn of term. But it would be uninstrnctive to discriminate the minor varieties. It will suffice to present an example of one, 
^ severa ^ °tbers, and whose characters lead us to conclude that it has remained l ages ffi 
The Kerry Breed of Sheep, notwithstanding of neglect and insufficient food, exceeds in size the breeds of Wales, of the 
W lcklow Mountains, and of many of the Old Forests of Fncdnnd mi... i ’ 
, . ,, , ,, , y em 0t England. The horns are generally small and crooked, and sometimes 
wanting in the female, although some of the allied varieties of other parts have the horns large and spiral. The wool is coarse 
and hairy on the haunches, and to a certain degree along the ridge of the back, but on the sides it is very short and fine. The 
w ite colour of the fleece prevails, but there is a constant tendency to the development of the darker shades; and the whole Sheep 
would become black and brown, were it not for the choice by breeders of those which are white. These Sheep are in a remarkable 
. egiee wild and restless in their habits. In shape, eye, neck, position of the head, and general aspect, they approach to the 
Antelope or Deer tribes more than any other Sheep of this country. They feed so slowly, that, even after they have arrived at 
maturity of age, they require a long time to become fully fat. They have, however, a great disposition to accumulate fat internally 
and they are fit for the butcher when their external appearance would indicate that they were still lean. Their mutton is of I 
juiciness and flavour which causes them to be greatly valued for domestic consumption. This is their really valuable property, but 
it is not of itself sufficient to render them deserving of extended cultivation. 
Ireland, from the mildness of its winter and moisture of the climate, is in a peculiar degree suited to the production of the 
grasses and other herbaceous plants fitted for the food of Sheep; but a great part of the country is covered with peat, either col¬ 
lected m vast beds m the plains, or rising into eminences, or spread in thinner strata over the hills. Like all the countries of 
ancient Europe, Ireland was once covered with great forests, which neglect, and the prodigal waste of timber for fuel, and above 
all, the ravages of incessant wars, have long since eradicated. Giraldus Cambrensis, who came into Ireland after its first 
conquest by Henry II. in the 12th century, states, that the country was full of woods on every side, but that the English on 
gaining possession of it, cut them down, partly to deprive the banditti of their lurking places, and partly to gain space for cul¬ 
tivation. For centuries the work of destruction proceeded on every hand; and on the quelling of the great Rebellion in the 
reign of Elizabeth, the remaining forests were still further reduced. To the motives which formerly operated was now added 
the desire of gam, and immense ship-loads of magnificent timber were sent to foreign parts, and many charcoal manufactories 
were established. Even in the 17th century, the ruin of these noble woods had not been completed. Boate, who published his 
Natural History of Ireland about the middle of the century, though he complains that many great woods which the maps repre¬ 
sent had vanished, still describes numbers as existing which are now no more. Speaking of the province of Leinster he says 
that Wicklow, and King’s and Queen’s counties, were throughout full of woods, some many miles long and broad, and that part of 
the counties of Wexford and Carlow were greatly furnished with them. Of Ulster, he writes, that there were great forests in the 
county of Donegal, and in the north of Tyrone; likewise at Fermaugh, along Lake Erne, in Antrim, and in the north part of 
* These Shee P are Represented divested of their fleeces, and with the tails shortened. 
E * 
