Deva

“The Galway” is Ireland’s only native sheep breed. It’s wool was traditionally used in Irish Aran jumpers but in the 80’s the breed almost went extinct when importing wool became cheaper, synthetic fibres grew in popularity, and commercial sheep farming started to favour fast-growing meat breeds. The price of Galway wool dropped so low that it cost more to shear the sheep than the wool was actually worth—a problem that persists today.

Though the Galway breed has been saved from extinction by a small group of farmers, there are still only around 2,000 Galway’s on an island of millions of sheep. They hold protected rare breed status.

Today, next to no wool used in Irish knitwear is actually sourced, scoured, spun, and knitted entirely in Ireland. Just last year, almost €100 million worth of woollen products sold as “Made in Ireland” in Ireland were made using imported wool.

The annual Athenry Meitheal (an old Irish word for a communal activity where neighbours come together to assist one another with labour-intensive work) exists to renew routes to market for native Irish wool. It’s organised on a voluntary basis by the Galway Wool Co-op (@thegalwaywoolco_op) and is now in its sixth year. At the Meithael, trailer loads of Galway wool are delivered to the livestock mart in Athenry. The wool is weighed and inspected by the Galway Sheep Breeders Association, each farmer is issued with a receipt, and the wool is sent to it’s buyers.

Buying and using wool from the Galway sheep helps preserve the cultural integrity of traditional Irish knitwear, reduce the carbon emissions associated with imported wool, and support the farmers conserving Ireland’s only native sheep breed.

Photographed here are Gerry Nolan and Jackie McCann.