History and Extinction of the Irish Wolf

Reviewed By: Turlough Adley (Group 4)

Introduction

Irish wolves have had a fascination for me for many years. They are one of the most beautiful, efficient and mysterious animals in the world. Many people consider them killers and dangerous and their name is synonymous with treachery, avarice and duplicity.  The fact they were once existed in Ireland, my home country increased my interest in their history and ecology. The wolf was associated with Irish myths and legends with pieces of wolf used as charms against evil and ill health.

The objective of this assignment was to investigate the reasons why wolves became extinct in Ireland

The History of Wolves in Ireland.

The presence of wolves in Ireland can be traced as far back as 30,000 years. The first archaeological remains and earliest evidence of wolves in Ireland was 34,000 BP (before present), based on radio carbon data,  found in Castlepook cave near The Doneraile Wildlife National Park, Co. Cork, (Hickey 2000).

Wolf bones have been found in the counties of Waterford and Clare and some of these remains are on display at the National History Museum in Dublin. Ireland had a large population of wolves around the sixteenth century just before they stated being hunted. Ireland was a perfect environment for wolves to prosper due to the large oak forests and relative non-existence of other large predators, excluding man.

It is believed that there could have been more then 1000 wolves living in Ireland at one time. These numbers are based on two methods of quantitative research (Hickey 2000):

Ø        Habitat information: considers the Irish landscape and human population numbers indicating the area that wolves could live in a suitable environment.

Ø        Bounty Approach: This is based on the amount of bounties paid out for wolves. (This method can only be used after 1652 when Oliver Cromwell issued legislation for the extermination of wolves in Ireland)

The large population in Ireland was due to the fact that the average wolf pack (5-10 wolves) requires between 400 to 560 Km² and Ireland has a total area of 84,000 Km² of which about 27,000 Km² would be suitable for wolves to live.

The wolves’ habitat was mainly forest areas due to the amount of woodland in Ireland but they could also be found in bog land, mountain ranges and limestone barrens e.g. Burren in Co. Clare. They were also seen on the outskirts of towns and cities much like the common fox is found today. Wolves resided in the provinces of Munster and Connacht were mostly along the west coast were it was largely uninhabited by humans at that time. Large numbers were also found in the north of Ireland. 

Extermination of Wolves in Ireland:

The last wolf killed in Ireland was in 1786 and recorded in Co Carlow after a farmer lost a number of sheep to a lone wolf on Mount Leinster. There are two main reasons for the complete extermination:

(i) Deforestation: The first is due to the deforestation of Ireland, which came about because of the increase in population of Ireland during the plantations of Munster and Ulster by the English. Thousands of English settlers were sent to Ireland and were given large areas of Irish landscape, often evicting natives from their homes, who were then forced to move into the forests. The new settlers cut down the oak forests for wood and shipped it back to England where large profits could be made. The movement of people and deforestation brought wolves into more regular contact with humans and their livestock, which they fed on and with other wolf packs where competition for territory became fierce, whole packs were destroyed, as they had nowhere to live.

(ii) Human predation: The first historic reference to wolf hunting was in 620 AD. English settlers in Ireland had a fear and hatred of the wolf. This hatred grew stronger over time and escalated with King Edward 1 (1272-1307) when he ordered the extermination of all wolves in England and set up a bounty for there heads and skin. They are believed to have become extinct in England in the 1500’s.

When they realised there was such a large population of wolves in Ireland, bounty hunters arrived from England, Scotland and Europe and wolf hunting became a profitable holiday adventure. Oliver Cromwell (1599-1655) led major military campaigns to establish English control over Ireland (1649-1650) and was a major factor in the complete extermination of the Irish wolf. He brought in rewards for the heads and skins of wolves, which is believed to be around £6 for a female, £5 for a male, £3 for a hunting juvenile and 10 shillings for a cub. Only two bounty records have survived and these were for 1655 or 1665 (date not legible). A payment of £243.5s 4d, was made for wolves killed in Galway, Mayo, Sligo and Leitrim (Hickey 2003).

While the introduction of this bounty resulted in Irish people killing wolves many of them did not feel it was necessary, they saw wolves as a part of their natural surroundings and were often kept as pets. There are still the descendents of wolf-dog crosses e.g. the Irish wolfhounds and deerhounds

The wolf is believed to have become fully extinct from Ireland by the late 1700’s but there would have been very few numbers for some time, hiding in small packs in the most remote locations of Ireland… truly a sad way for such a gracious and formidable creature to die.

The parting of the wolf from Ireland resulted in the absence of a major predator, which allowed domestic livestock and wild deer to thrive in the country thanks to the rich golden vale in counties like Tipperary and Cork. 

The Reintroduction of the Wolf into Ireland.

There have been ongoing discussions about whether or not to reintroduce the wolf back into Ireland. The golden eagle has been successfully re-introduced over a considerable number of years work required to change people’s attitudes. The re-introduction of the wolf would be more difficult. The disadvantages however include:

Ø        The lack of large wild prey for food, the deer would be the only suitable wild animal, which would mean the wolf would hunt cattle, sheep and horses, which are all abundant in Ireland. The farmers and breeders are opposed to the reintroduction of wolves into the wild for this reason.

Ø        They could only be introduced into wildlife parks in either Cork or Killary. These parks are not sufficiently big enough to contain wild wolf packs and would not contain sufficient amounts of prey.

Ø        The government would have to introduce a monetary compensation scheme for farmers. Wolves breed and double every year the numbers would expand rapidly and a wolf cull would be necessary to control numbers.

Ø        Finally, the attitude of people to the re-introduction would require extensive education and a change of mindset.

The type of wolf that used to live in Ireland is now extinct across Europe and the climate in Ireland is not similar to any countries where wolves are thriving at the moment (Fig 1).

The wolf has been mentioned in Irish literature including the Book of Kells ( Fig 2). The word "wolf" in Gaelic is "Lub" and also "Madadh Alluidh". At times the wolf is referred to as "Mac Tire", meaning "Earth’s son".  There are a considerable number of Irish place names called after wolves e.g. the English name, Wolf Island in Lough Gill but the majority are in the Gaelic e.g. Isknamacteera in Co Kerry, Breagh (Wolf field) in Drumcree Co. Armagh and Breagghva (Wolf field) in Kilrush Co Clare.

The real wolf, when looked at in detail, turns out to be a rather admirable animal, who carries a certain nobility and charm.

References:

Hickey KR (2000) A geographical perspective on the decline and extermination of the Irish wolf canis lupus - an initial assessment. The Irish Geography. 33(2):185-198.

Hickey KR (2003) Wolf- forgotten Irish Hunter. Wild Ireland May-June: 10-13.

Stanmore I (2004). The Disappearance of Irish Wolves in the British Isles: Wolf Song of Alaska  http://www.wolfsongalaska.org/disappearance_of_wolves.html

The Last Irish Wolf: Globaleyes http://www.p45blogs.net/globaleyes/archives/000508.html