Comments on: More sheep than people in Ireland

By: Christelle

Christelle — Wed, 21 Aug 2013 09:06:24 +0000

Good morning, very nice and useful blog to improve my English =).
I am a French flâneuse (haha) and I used to live in Ireland and Scotland as well. I’ve been looking for statistics about sheep in Ireland. Are you sure, there are more sheep than people? I would be curious to know where your statistics come from.
According to the Department of Agriculture, at this end of 2012 there were 3,58 million sheep (34,048 flocks) for 4,6 million inhabitants.
Here is the link (a bit long sorry) : http://www.agriculture.gov.ie/media/migration/animalhealthwelfare/animalidentificationandmovement/nationalsheepidentificationsystem/NationalSheepandGoatCensus2012.pdf

By: Teresa

Teresa — Mon, 01 Jul 2013 20:22:16 +0000

My parents are Irish so it made me chuckle! I think the percentage of sheep to people might be higher in NZ. It’s been a while since I was there but I remember being very surprised.

By: Barbara Stoner

Barbara Stoner — Mon, 01 Jul 2013 18:31:16 +0000

In England, there were sheep on the coast, sheep at Stonehenge, at Avebury, visible from Glastonbury Tor, on the hills of the Lake District, dotting the view from Hadrian’s Wall. Spent a day driving a part of the Scottish highlands on what was, essentially, a sheep track. In the Highlands, however, you can’t help but notice the lack of cottages, farms, villages – and the plethora of sheep. So while you’re enjoying the amazing views, surrounded by a flock or two, you remember the Enclosures, which were not confined to Ireland.

By: Allan

Allan — Mon, 01 Jul 2013 18:25:00 +0000

What’s hell is driving in the fog. You can’t see the effing sheep!