Almost ten years ago, some very rare Old Irish goats were discovered among the feral herds of Mulranny Mountains; some people of the village decided to isolate them and saved them from extinction. They started the National Herd Breeding Program in 2014 and went to work to study the goats with the help of Professor Ray Werner, a London based expert on Old Irish goats. 

DNA tests and historical studies were carried out to prove the goats' uniqueness, using samples from a stuffed goat’s head dating from 1895 owned by a local farmer, some taxidermy specimens in museums and private houses, and from live goats.

The Smurfit Institute of Genetics at Trinity College in Dublin and Professor Hans Lenstra from Utrecht University in the Netherlands were involved in the study.

It took several years, but now the result of the work clearly shows that the Old Irish Goat in Mulranny is indeed a distinct Irish breed. The goats of Mulranny are some of the last modern representatives of the ‘Old Irish’ type of goat, once ubiquitous throughout Ireland.

They are a Living Heritage and as old as the hills.

The lineage of these goats dates back to the Neolithic Age, about 5,000 years ago. They were contemporaneous with Céide Fields, Poulnabrone Portal Dolmen in the Burren and the Megalithic Chamber Tomb Bru na Bóinne in County Meath.

They made up the primary breed in the Celts Vikings and Normans livestock and supplied milk, fat, meat, hide, hair and horn. With their hides, the Irish Bodhrán was made, and monks could copy valuable books on parchments. They sustained people from starvation, especially at the time of the famines.

The Old Irish Goat got its place in Irish myths and legends and is deservedly celebrated in paintings and literature.

The Old Irish Goat Society (OIGS) was reactivated in 2012 and is currently based in Mulranny. It has been active in working with the Dept. of Agriculture, Food and Marine to establish the breed.

During the 2020 Summer, a Visitor Centre and a Craft Shop opened, and an Interpretive Centre was set to view the story of the goats and how the Old Irish Goat Society was able to prove the uniqueness of this breed.

In Summer 2021, a new 5-acre Goat Sanctuary will be open to the public on a terraced landscape with panoramic views of Clew Bay. The goats can become an iconic tourist attraction in Mayo along the Wild Atlantic Way and the  Great Western Greenway.

They can become a tourism icon of Mayo and add value to a UNESCO World Heritage Site as a cultural asset.

Also, in Spring 2021, 25 goats, which come from the sanctuary, will be relocated as part of a groundbreaking conservation grazing project to Howth Head, Dublin.

They will reduce fire risk to homes and improve the biodiversity of habitats in the Dublin Bay UNESCO Biosphere Reserve.

On Howth Head, the landscape is highly flammable due to dense scrub vegetation, which grows unchecked since the 1940s, when the traditional grazing declined.

A goat herder and sheepdogs will check on the goats, and, for the first time in Ireland, the Norwegian ‘no-fence’ GPS tracking system will be put in place.

DESCRIPTION

These goats have an ancient appearance. They are short-legged and have a long body, and for this reason, they move differently from goats of modern breeds.

Their ears are small and pricked; their horns are impressive and corrugated. They are long-bearded.

The coat is long, rough and thick and comes in 12 different colour patterns that blend perfectly with the landscape. They have an underwool of cashmere which enables them to adapt to the Irish climate and cold winters.