The West of Ireland Cloonglas Irish Moileds
Owned by Shemie Heverin
The popularity of the Irish Moiled breed is at an all-time high with the number of cattle being entered in the herdbook on an annual basis at a record level. Part of the reason for the great popularity of the Irish Moiled breed is due to the support given by way of subsidies from the Department of Agriculture in each area particularly in the Republic of Ireland for rare native breeds but mainly because Irish Moiled cows have strong maternal traits such as milkiness, are easy calved, have a low maintenance requirement, are naturally polled and the Irish Moiled breed is being increasingly valued for its premium, grass-fed beef.
There are upwards of 180 Irish Moiled herds in the Republic of Ireland, one of those breeders is Seamus Heverin from just outside the tranquil market town of Ballina, Co. Mayo a beautiful part of the world. Co. Mayo is quietly stunning with its veins of rich green fertile land, wild blanket bogs, mountains, rugged cliffs and stunning coastal landscapes, the Irish Moiled fit in perfectly and are well suited to the challenging, rougher type terrains found in the west of Ireland.
Initially, Seamus considered three different cattle breeds… the Irish Moiled, Wagyu and Angus, settling on the Irish Moiled as his main breed, the reason being because of the rich cultural connection of the Irish Moiled to the Island he lives in, with a long-term ambition of selling premium grass-fed beef in meat boxes. In the early days Seamus bought in quite a few Moilie cows from several different herds to get his herd up and going quickly, and as he got to know more about the breed, he began to be very selective, improving the herd, keeping only the best conformation females and the ones with a quiet temperament. Seamus values getting the best bull he can get his hands on and like all Irish Moiled breeders it is not easy getting a good bull when you need one. Seamus went down the route of purchasing a bull calf in the Autumn 2024 H & H Magnificent Moilie online sale. Keeping the young bull over the winter months allowed the bull to grow out, adjust to his new surroundings and diet in preparation for the breeding season. The bull bought in the Autumn 2024 sale has successfully put the heifers in calf this year for Seamus and will be the main stock bull for the whole herd next year.
The herd is a spring calving herd, and the heifers are calved down as close to 24 months old as possible. Seamus brings the cattle in for winter housing when the time goes back in October, working full time as an accountant means it is easier when they are housed in the winter, as it is dark before he gets to see them, but as soon as the spring weather appears, the cattle are back out, he finds there is less trouble with young calves picking up infections by getting the cows out before they calve. You would think to view his herd that the Irish Moiled’s are pampered but far from it, that’s the benefits of having an easy kept breed, that are not high maintenance.
Seamus is full of praise for the Irish Moiled breed and would recommend them to anyone wanting a low input easy care breed.
The Autumn H & H Magnificent Moilie online sale will take place from noon on Thursday 25th September concluding noon Saturday 27th September. The online catalogue will be released shortly, it is recommended to register with Harrison & Hetherington before the sale, it is too late if you leave it to the sale day. Meanwhile if you are wanting more information, please contact the breed secretary Gillian by WhatsApp on ++44 7842185008
