Only One Ireland: Unique urban Irish goat, with the longest horns in the world

Thursday, January 11, 2007

Unique urban Irish goat, with the longest horns in the world

Bilberry Rock, a quarry-like commonage in Waterford City, is home to a what the British Feral Goat Research Group thinks may be a rare and uniquely Irish goat breed. However, with a population of only 28, eight of which are female, their survival is at risk. Slightly larger than domestic goats, they have long, fine, wavy coats, and elegant horns, possibly the longest of any goat.

Now cared for by local families, they may originally have been introduced by the Huguenots, who would have used their fine cashmere wool for weaving. The Irish Wildlife Trust and UCD are carrying out DNA analysis on the goats to help identify their exact origins. Meanwhile, the Bilberry Goat Herd Protection Trust is trying to protect their low-density-housing zoned habitat from development.

Goats are considered part of Ireland’s wild fauna but lack any protection under the Wildlife Act. Their official conservation is limited to some national parks.

Check out Waterford's Bilberry Goat Blog
Waterford’s Bilberry Goat herd - photo and article
Listen to a radio programme on the Bilberry Goat Herd (see Programme 10, 11 August 2006)
Contact the Bilberry Goat Herd Protection Trust at bilberrygoats@eircom.net

The island of ireland

Once upon a time, and for 15000 years, ice a mile high blanketed Ireland. When the lingering Ice Age finally released and the Irish ice departed it left a landscape scoured. Across land bridges linking Ireland, Britain and mainland Europe plants and animals arrived to colonise the new lowlands, mountains and valleys. The world’s ice continued to melt, the sea levels to rise, and some 8000 years ago Ireland became the island we now know, accounting for just 0.01% of the world's total land area and the most westerly point of Europe.

Though at Alaskan latitudes, the country's climate is tempered, due partly to the neighbouring waters of the Gulf Stream and partly the prevailing southwesterlies that veering and backing make landfall on our sodden coast. These offerings from the Atlantic mean it is never too hot, never too cold. But without doubt it is wet. Rain lingers year round, never far away, though is most frequent in winter, the western counties and, inevitably, on the day of your parade.