Watch Irish sheep herders at work and learn why most of the country's agricultural land is used as pasture
The importance of sheep herding to the economy of Ireland
Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
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Courtesy of Folger Shakespeare Library; CC-BY-SA 4.0 (A Britannica Publishing Partner)A discussion of English colonization of the vast estates in Munster, Ireland, that belonged to the 14th (or 15th) earl of Desmond, who died in 1583 while in rebellion against the English crown. Sir Walter Raleigh and the poet Edmund Spenser were among those who received some of the land.
Transcript
NARRATOR: Ireland is poorer than many of its European neighbors. Though it is largely an agricultural country, the landscape is not well suited to cultivating crops. Most of the agricultural land is used as pasture, and sheep are the most common form of livestock.
Each year between eight and nine million of the animals are slaughtered and millions more are sheared for their wool.
Each year between eight and nine million of the animals are slaughtered and millions more are sheared for their wool.