Quiet cow to lead Scattery’s heritage plan?

A QUIET cow could have a pivotal role to play in the possible return of cattle to one of the county’s best-known monastic island settlements.

 

Scattery Island Heritage and Development Group has submitted a detailed proposal to the Office of Public Works (OPW) relating to the preservation of the island’s heritage and buildings and cattle have a central role to play. The Shannon Estuary island has not been farmed for several decades.

To augment the proposal, Sharon Parr and Brendan Dunford of Burrenbeo recently visited Scattery Island, which they described as “a beautiful and deeply intriguing island”.
The Burren Beo representatives were invited by Conjella McGuire, Clare County Council and Rita McCarthy, Scattery Island Heritage and Development Group, to discuss land-management options and address the problems associated with the cessation of farming on the sixth century island off Kilrush.

In their report, Ms Parr and Mr Dunford said a small number of fields could be selected in order to start the process of bringing farming back to the island.

“These fields could be located at a distance from the main visitor areas to avoid too much visitor-grazer interaction. The fields should be ideally at the earlier stages of abandonment, without too much bramble and scrub. It may be preferable to start with those that contain no archaeological structures of concern to the OPW,” the report read.

“The recommended grazers would be cattle. If young dry stock are to be used; bullocks or heifers and at least one, quiet, older cow would be essential to calm the others down. Some light feeding of a high protein ration would help the cattle process the rough forage and would make it easier for the farmer to handle them. Ponies would be another option, either alone or a couple alongside the cattle,” the visitor notes read.

“Grazing time and duration would be best decided by the farmer. While breeds can be important, the farmer would be the best judge of what and how many available stock fit the bill. As the land is naturally quite fertile, some level of summer grazing would be preferable as opposed to winter grazing only.

“A simple before and after monitoring programme could be instigated to determine the environmental (ecological), agricultural (animal health) and socio-economic (capital and current costs) of the pilot exercise and would inform the feasibility of expanding the pilot across the island,” the report added.

Central to the proposal from the Scattery Island Heritage and Development Group is to restore the Napoleonic battery to its former glory, making it an iconic structure on the island.
“The restoration of the building and the surrounding areas by clearing over growth and creating a safe access for use by visitors will complement the island’s monastic settlement by means of an additional tourist attraction,” the groups submission to the OPW reads.