Just like in this week's forecast, eastern counties bore the brunt of the icy spell. "Snow blown from the mountains and hills into large drifts of over 18ft in the valleys has posed the greatest danger to sheep," reported Laurena Cahill.
"There is no doubt but that hundreds if not thousands of sheep have been killed in snow drifts and there are also reports that large numbers of suckler cows have not survived the blizzard," added Des Maguire.
There were reports of sheep sheds collapsing under the snow's weight in Co Wicklow, farmers milking by hand amid power cuts or dumping milk when lorries could not reach them, but also sheep being dug out alive from snow drifts in Co Kilkenny.
"Horticultural producers in Rush suffered huge losses with their first tomato crops and potato growers in the midlands have also experienced severe frost damage," reported Des Maguire. He added that military helicopters were drafted in to drop hay bales on farms isolated by the snow.
Very quickly, though, attention turned to discussions between farming organisations and the then Minister for Agriculture Alan Dukes on evaluating the damage and compensating the worst-hit farmers.
Additional reporting by Louise Denvir.
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