Can Galway boast of having the oldest cow in Ireland?

There is every possibility that the oldest cow in the country could be grazing on Galway lands in Ballinasloe and is in the ownership of a local Sinn Fein councillor.

And while the 30 year old Shorthorn Cross has given birth to an amazing 25 calves, it doesn’t mean that she is giving up just yet.

According to Cllr. Dermot Connolly the elderly cow is currently having a relationship with a bull so there is a possibility of an amazing 26th calf later on this year.

It is something of a phenomenon that a cow would survive that long but she has been well treated by Dermot Connolly who inherited the animal from his late uncle.

The cow was owned and bred by the late Ownie Connolly from Cloonkeen, Killoran and for the past quarter of a century has produced a calf each year. It has become the subject of local discussion in the area.

Dermot Connolly has no intention of selling the cow and says that she is first up when it comes to feeding time. “She definitely has not lost her appetite,” he said. He said that when it comes to her being fed in the slatted house on his farm, she is well ahead of him. She certainly knows when it is feeding time.

The cow has been a part of the Connolly family for the past three decades and still produces a calf every year.

See full story in this week’s Connacht Tribune.