Farming Heritage Final.Indd
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www.heritagecouncil.ie E E [email protected] B.Magee Design F 056 777 0788 777 056 T 056 777 0777 777 056 Ireland Kilkenny, Lane, Church The Heritage Council Council Heritage The Áras na hOidhreachta hOidhreachta na Áras Oidhreachta Chomhairle An Edited by Hugh Maguire Hugh by Edited Text by Jonathan Bell and Mervyn Watson. Mervyn and Bell Jonathan by Text An Initiative of The Heritage Council Heritage The of Initiative An Reaping oats with a sickle a with oats Reaping (Dublin: Four Courts Press, 2008). Press, Courts Four (Dublin: 1950 – 1750 Farming Irish of History A Jonathan Bell and Mervyn Watson Watson Mervyn and Bell Jonathan Further reading: Further County Wexford County Johnstown Irish Agricultural Museum Agricultural Irish Email: [email protected] Email: Co. Clare Co. Scarrif Capparoe Irish Seed Savers Association Savers Seed Irish Email: [email protected] Email: Tel: 059 8625125 059 Tel: Co. Kildare Co. Email: [email protected] Email: Athy Tel: 094 903751 094 Tel: Fallaghmore Co. Mayo Co. National Ploughing Assocaition Ploughing National Castlebar Turlough Park Turlough County Clare County National Museum of Ireland of Museum National Bunratty Museum of Country Life Country of Museum Bunratty Folk Park Folk Bunratty Email: [email protected] Email: and kerrybogvillage.ie and Tel: 064 70165 064 Tel: Web sites Kerrybogpony.ie Kerrybogpony.ie sites Web Manager: Toddy Doyle Toddy Manager: County Kerry County Co Kerry Co Dingle Killarney Glenbeigh Muckross House Muckross Ireland’s Farming Heritage Farming Ireland’s Kerry Bog Pony Village Pony Bog Kerry Muckross Traditional Farms Traditional Muckross PLACES TO VISIT AND USEFUL CONTACTS USEFUL AND VISIT TO PLACES Ireland’s Farming Heritage L I V E S T O C K During the early nineteenth century, cultivation declined in Ireland, and livestock farming regained its dominant position in Irish farming. Between 1850 and 1900 livestcock numbers increased sharply, and this trend has continued almost unbroken. Galway sheep. Donkeys at Muckross Traditional ‘Irish Draught horse, 1905. Farms, Killarney, County Sheep can be roughly divided The RDS began giving grants for Kerry (Toddy Doyle). into upland and lowland the improvement of indigenous varieties. The most successful Donkeys became common on farm horses in 1888. Irish breeds of lowland sheep in Draught stallions were listed by A Connemara Pony, on the Aran A Kerry Bog Pony at the Kerry Kerry Cattle at Muckross small Irish farms from the late Ireland were Roscommons and the Department of Agriculture Islands, County Galway. (Museum Bog Pony Village in Glenbeigh, Traditional Farms, Killarney, eighteenth century. They were Galways, both of which still from 1905 onwards. Today Irish of Country Life, Castlebar). County Kerry (John Mulvihill). County Kerry (Toddy Doyle). used for work in the fi elds and survive in small numbers. transporting goods and people. Draught Horses are bred with Many parts of Ireland had their own local types of horses and ponies. Some As early as the 1770s, Kerry cattle Thoroughbreds to produce the of these are sadly extinct, but a few breeds are still doing well. were recognised as valuable world famous Irish Hunter. Irish farm horses were developed to carry out a range of tasks; pulling farm dual-purpose animals, kept for implements, driving and riding. both milk and meat. Herd books for Kerry cattle, and the closely Irish Draught horses became a recognised breed in the early twentieth IRISH BREEDS AND TYPES OF LIVESTOCK century, and a breed register was started in 1917. Connemara ponies were related Dexter breed, were kept from 1887. recognised as distinctive in the early nineteenth century, and a breed SURVIVING EXTINCT register was started in 1924. Connemara Ponies Cushendall Ponies Irish Draught Horses Greyhound Pigs Kerry Bog Ponies Large White Ulster Pigs Kerry cattle Wicklow Sheep Dexter cattle Kerry Hill Sheep Irish Moiled cattle Irish Longhorn cattle Roscommon sheep Galway sheep Bruising fl ax, County Donegal www.heritagecouncil.ie E E [email protected] B.Magee Design F 056 777 0788 777 056 T 056 777 0777 777 056 Ireland Kilkenny, Lane, Church The Heritage Council Council Heritage The Áras na hOidhreachta hOidhreachta na Áras Oidhreachta Chomhairle An Edited by Hugh Maguire Hugh by Edited Text by Jonathan Bell and Mervyn Watson. Mervyn and Bell Jonathan by Text An Initiative of The Heritage Council Heritage The of Initiative An Reaping oats with a sickle a with oats Reaping (Dublin: Four Courts Press, 2008). Press, Courts Four (Dublin: 1950 – 1750 Farming Irish of History A Jonathan Bell and Mervyn Watson Watson Mervyn and Bell Jonathan Further reading: Further County Wexford County Johnstown Irish Agricultural Museum Agricultural Irish Email: [email protected] Email: Co. Clare Co. Scarrif Capparoe Irish Seed Savers Association Savers Seed Irish Email: [email protected] Email: Tel: 059 8625125 059 Tel: Co. Kildare Co. Email: [email protected] Email: Athy Tel: 094 903751 094 Tel: Fallaghmore Co. Mayo Co. National Ploughing Assocaition Ploughing National Castlebar Turlough Park Turlough County Clare County National Museum of Ireland of Museum National Bunratty Museum of Country Life Country of Museum Bunratty Folk Park Folk Bunratty Email: [email protected] Email: and kerrybogvillage.ie and Tel: 064 70165 064 Tel: Web sites Kerrybogpony.ie Kerrybogpony.ie sites Web Manager: Toddy Doyle Toddy Manager: County Kerry County Co Kerry Co Dingle Killarney Glenbeigh Muckross House Muckross Ireland’s Farming Heritage Farming Ireland’s Kerry Bog Pony Village Pony Bog Kerry Muckross Traditional Farms Traditional Muckross PLACES TO VISIT AND USEFUL CONTACTS USEFUL AND VISIT TO PLACES Ireland’s Farming Heritage L I V E S T O C K During the early nineteenth century, cultivation declined in Ireland, and livestock farming regained its dominant position in Irish farming. Between 1850 and 1900 livestcock numbers increased sharply, and this trend has continued almost unbroken. Galway sheep. Donkeys at Muckross Traditional ‘Irish Draught horse, 1905. Farms, Killarney, County Sheep can be roughly divided The RDS began giving grants for Kerry (Toddy Doyle). into upland and lowland the improvement of indigenous varieties. The most successful Donkeys became common on farm horses in 1888. Irish breeds of lowland sheep in Draught stallions were listed by A Connemara Pony, on the Aran A Kerry Bog Pony at the Kerry Kerry Cattle at Muckross small Irish farms from the late Ireland were Roscommons and the Department of Agriculture Islands, County Galway. (Museum Bog Pony Village in Glenbeigh, Traditional Farms, Killarney, eighteenth century. They were Galways, both of which still from 1905 onwards. Today Irish of Country Life, Castlebar). County Kerry (John Mulvihill). County Kerry (Toddy Doyle). used for work in the fi elds and survive in small numbers. transporting goods and people. Draught Horses are bred with Many parts of Ireland had their own local types of horses and ponies. Some As early as the 1770s, Kerry cattle Thoroughbreds to produce the of these are sadly extinct, but a few breeds are still doing well. were recognised as valuable world famous Irish Hunter. Irish farm horses were developed to carry out a range of tasks; pulling farm dual-purpose animals, kept for implements, driving and riding. both milk and meat. Herd books for Kerry cattle, and the closely Irish Draught horses became a recognised breed in the early twentieth IRISH BREEDS AND TYPES OF LIVESTOCK century, and a breed register was started in 1917. Connemara ponies were related Dexter breed, were kept from 1887. recognised as distinctive in the early nineteenth century, and a breed SURVIVING EXTINCT register was started in 1924. Connemara Ponies Cushendall Ponies Irish Draught Horses Greyhound Pigs Kerry Bog Ponies Large White Ulster Pigs Kerry cattle Wicklow Sheep Dexter cattle Kerry Hill Sheep Irish Moiled cattle Irish Longhorn cattle Roscommon sheep Galway sheep Bruising fl ax, County Donegal IRELAND’S FARMING HERITAGE The fi rst farmers arrived in Ireland more than 6000 years ago and evidence for agricultural settlements and enclosure has CULTIVATION been found from that period onwards. However, most of the landscape of fi elds enclosed with hedges and walls that we see today is relatively modern, dating from the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. This era has been called The Age of Improvement, when science and technology were used to create new implements, farming systems and livestock breeds. The estate farms of some big landlords provide our best evidence of risky experimentation, either with large scale machinery such as steam ploughing equipment or the adoption of new ways of utilising older techniques such as working with oxen. At the level of medium sized tenant farms, we fi nd the earliest evidence for the introduction of new, standardised farm machinery, such as all-metal ploughs, reaping machines or horse drawn potato diggers. These medium sized commercial farms were also in the forefront of the development and introduction of standardised breeds of farm livestock during the later nineteenth century. In the much of the west of Ireland, and especially on marginal land, many tenant farms were very small, and provision of a subsistence living for the farming family was a major goal. It is on farms such as these that we fi nd the biggest reliance on manual labour, and also evidence for implements such as spades, sickles or fl ails, used in techniques which often showed great refi nement in their adjustment to local conditions. F A R M C R O P S For most of the historic period, Irish farmers relied more on livestock than crop production. However, there was big swing towards arable farming from the middle of the eighteenth century. Between 1800 and 1815, the British were at war with Napoleon. This led to a huge demand for grain in England, and Irish farmers increased grain production to the extent that Ireland was called ‘the Granary’ of Britain.