James Wilson

“ Eventually, as in the south of England, the Longhorn overran the most desirable parts of the country, and, at the time of Arthur Young's visit (1776-78) they and their cousins that had been graded up from the original black Celtic stock, and were now for the most part pure Longhorns, were in possession of the great central plain of Ireland, from one side of the country to the other, and of the fertile valleys and smaller plains running into it from both sides: the native cattle having been driven into the higher and less fertile regions to the north and to the south. ”

“ The cattle of the country were of the same race as the small black Celtic cattle of Scotland and Wales, excepting, perhaps, in the south, where there may have been some small red cattle of North Devon type. Knowing the superiority of the cattle in England, many owners of land in Ireland sent there for cattle, and Lancashire and the western counties being most convenient for transit, as well, perhaps, as possessing the most superior cattle, were naturally resorted to. ”

“ Ireland was ripe for the importation of superior bovines. The seventeenth century had been a century of "plantations"—Elizabeth's, James's, and Cromwell's. Much of the land had become the property of the English and Scots. ”