Melissa Jeuken (above left), shepherd with the Old Irish Goat Society, and Mayor of Fingal Cllr Seána Ó Rodaigh (right)
‘sup?
This morning.
Howth Head, Howth, north county Dublin.
Fingal County Council writes:
We are delighted to announce a ground-breaking conservation grazing project, with Old Irish Goats, at Howth, in the Dublin Bay UNESCO Biosphere Reserve. The scheme, which will last for 3 years, is a partnership project between Fingal County Council and the Old Irish Goat Society with support from the Howth SAAO.
A group of 25 Old Irish Goats, originating from the national herd in Mulranny, Co Mayo, have today arrived in their new home on Howth Head as the first phase of the project gets underway.
The project will utilise traditional methods of management, a goat herder and sheepdogs. It will also trial, for the first time in Ireland, the Norwegian “No-fence” system which employs GPS tracking to define fenceless grazing areas…
Orla Murray/Coalesce
And high on the Hill of Howth too.
How appropriate :)
+ 1
How apt that the Old Irish Goat
Should be high on a hill out in Howth.
But it would take some cajoling
For me to like yodeling
(Excuse me while I get my coat).
Excellent, really lovely work
excellent stubborn bottomless pitted cratures
Melissa is the right person for the job. She hails from a family who run a traditional farm in the Burren – plenty of goats there. Incidentally, there’s also a great 6km hiking trail (Lough Avalla Trail) around the farm that’s free to the public – they even provide walking sticks.
Plus you’ve got the hots for her.
sure who wouldn’t
Not likely; I’m older than her Dad.
Anything goes nowadays
Can I borrow a few to browse my garden? More eco-friendly, and likely a better cut than my mower :-)
Here ya go…
https://billysrentagoat.ie/goat-grazing-services/
Cheers, Otis! Brilliant stuff :-)
There’s a column in that. G’wan.
First contact made…
Great idea.
Wallabies good for the job too if yer stuck – a lot of the large stately homes over in Blighty use them for grazing.
I did not know that wallabies grazed in that manner. I always thought they were browsers. Today I learned something new!
Why have all those female goats got goatees?
because they don’t bow to societal pressure and ick them
* pluck
I liked that – ick them. That reminds me of the sound I make when random hairs are plucked from my chin :-)
I can’t wait until I can be a hairy old lady, happy and witchy and scaring children out of my garden…oh wait
I hope they remind all the morons to keep their ‘best friends’ on a leash, or at least enforce the existing laws as most of these ‘animal lovers’ ignore them
Hang on. How is potentially overgrazing the Hill Of Howth a ‘conservation’ project?
did you not see the part where they would be monitored, ” Indeed, grazing animals can improve the diversity of grasses by dispersing seeds with their hooves and in their manure. By trampling the soil they also break up the crust and stimulate the growth of grass. … “
Hmm. I’m more in favour of rewilding, myself, this sounds more like an agricultural project – goats are going to be hell on trees and shrubs. While we certainly need alternatives to intensive agricultural methods, we also need wild spaces to be allowed to recover. Let loose a couple of predators, and you’d have something like a proper ecosystem, though.
The trees on Howth Head are mainly, if not entirely, on the privately owned Howth Castle Demesne side. The rest of the hill is mostly gorse that has to be controlled. In any event, the goats are being managed by the herder and she will decide where they are to graze.
Letting goats graze is a way of ensuring that the trees never take hold, though? Unless there’s a long-term plan to clear the furze for the three years, then plant or allow to rewild? If not, just think we have more than enough overgrazed hillsides in this country, not enough natural woodland. It doesn’t strike me as good for the biodiversity of a biosphere reserve, but then again they’re better than frequent wildfires, so…