[Sca-cooks] Irish beef, cattle

[Stefan li Rous]

Finn replied to me with:
> stefan at texas.net writes:
> > However, that is today, not necessarily in period. Secondly, even
> > if those are definitely cows and in Ireland, that just says they
> > are Irish Cows. Not necessarily Irish Beef. If the cattle get shipped
> > elsewhere, say England, before being turned into beef, is that Irish
> > Beef or English Beef?
>
> Okay so this is REALLY LATE, and I'm sorry if it's already been answered, but
> the Tales Of Cuchalain (sp?) clearly state that one of the primarly reasons
> for war between Ulster and Connaught was the cattle raid. Meaebh wanted the
> Brown Bull of Cooley as a prize and the men of Connaught got it back. So yeah
> there were cattle in Ireland in period.
>
> Also of interest are the Coos of Highland Scotland. They are furry cattle,
> look almost like small hairy bison.

Interesting. However, it doesn't negate what I said. My point was
not that they didn't have cattle in Ireland. It was that just having
the cattle doesn't mean that there would have been a unique Irish
dish made with it. And your examples are still talking about Irish
cattle, not Irish beef. Also, the "Brown Bull of Cooley" by
itself, is not evidence that there were cattle in Ireland, unless
that specifically refers to a live bull and not a statue.

--
THLord Stefan li Rous    Barony of Bryn Gwlad    Kingdom of Ansteorra
   Mark S. Harris            Austin, Texas          stefan at texas.net
**** See Stefan's Florilegium files at:  http://www.florilegium.org ****