Charolais cattle clocked half a century in Ireland this year. Their arrival from France in the autumn of 1964 into an Ireland very different from today caused a stir both at home and in the US.

While the credit for the importation often goes to the late Charles J Haughey, the planning and the deed actually belonged to farm minister Paddy Smith and his forward-looking officials.

Ireland in 1964

Ireland cherished her disease-free island status, which included a ban on all cattle imports, except under a very strict quarantine regime. In the spring/summer of 1964, three Department of Agriculture staff, the late John Beattie along with Reddy Day and Austin Mescal, spent weeks in France eyeing Charolais herds.

They selected eight males and 12 females of four to five months (at eight to nine months, all French cattle were vaccinated for foot-and-mouth disease, rendering them ineligible for entry to Ireland).

Then followed quarantine on the farm of origin, quarantine in France and then more months of quarantine on Spike Island in Cork.

Finally, the exotic white/beige animals were transferred to the Department of Agriculture farm and veterinary centre at Thorndale in Dublin, a site now occupied by Beaumont Hospital.

This activity was closely watched from the US, who were peppering to get Charolais state-side. By 1965, Charlie Haughey had become minister for agriculture and from the rush of interest, five privates were given the go-ahead to bring in more Charolais cattle from France alongside another Department of Agriculture importation.

The privates were Joe McGrath, Laurie Gardiner, chairman of the Agricultural Trust John Mooney, former US Ambassador to Ireland Raymond Guest and Alan Livingstone.

One 1965 Department bull, Shamrock Ambassadeur CF12, quickly made waves at home and abroad, leading to a £100,000 offer for him from the US. The Department rejected the offer, which in terms of its land purchasing ability then would be the equivalent of €10m today.

However, 10 of the early Irish-born Charolais calves went to the US. Buyers from Canada, New Zealand and Sweden also came shopping for the early Irish Charolais.

Some semen from the iconic Ambassadeur is still available. Although noted for his shape and growth rate, ICBF only give Ambassadeur half a star for terminal traits. Ironically, he has five stars for maternal traits.

Growth and lean meat

One of the attractions of the early Charolais was the breed’s ability to colour mark in the traditional Irish mix of crossbreeding. This complemented its accepted prowess for growth and lean meat.

The breed’s main deterrent was, and still is, the fear of calving difficulty. Over the years, the breed in Ireland advanced in spurts to eventually become the most popular beef sire.

While the early importers may have been industrialists and business people, very quickly the breed became firmly rooted in commercial Irish farming.

A glance at the distribution of Charolais shows the preponderance of the 2,465 listed breeders in the west and northwest. The challenge for the breed today is to meet the demand for cattle that finish on grass at carcase weights that meet the supermarkets’ specs.

Over recent decades, the breed was dominated by one AI bull, Doonally New (CF52). CF52 was noted for terminal beef traits.

The Irish Charolais Society is constantly on the lookout for new bloodlines, especially cattle with maternal traits. Ironically, some of the bulls the society pushed in the past, such as Major, have not delivered in this trait, according to ICBF.

But then again, ICBF ratings have been shown to perform big U-turns in the past.

The society is shortly to offer new bulls for pedigree breeding. Overall, however, 50 years on, the Irish Charolais breed is now a cornerstone of our beef scene and more Irish than the Irish cattle themselves.