Robert Boyle runs a herd of pedigree Irish Moiled cattle on the east coast of Northern Ireland at Millisle, Co. Down. At Millisle the soil is rich and fertile and produces an abundance of lush grass which contributes to the exceptional taste and flavour of the Irish Moilie beef produced on his farm. Robert finishes to beef all the purebred Irish Moiled bullocks that are born on the farm, they are usually finished between twenty-four and thirty months. Robert doesn’t castrate his bull calves as weanlings, leaving them until they are around a 1-year-old picking off a few bulls with breeding potential, the rest being castrated. Robert finds by not castrating the males until 1-year-old helps them to fill out with a better frame and ultimately a better finished carcase.

Each year, Robert also buys in several purebred Irish Moiled steer calves that are sourced direct from the farm of pedigree Irish Moiled breeders in N. Ireland, hand picking weanlings that have a bit of size, with the aim that they will ultimately achieve a 300kg finished carcase weight. Depending on the time of year that finishing occurs, Robert would mainly finish his cattle off grass, but if finishing occurs over the winter months, approximately 5kg per animal per day of rolled barley is fed in the last forty days, before slaughter. He finds the barley gives the carcase a nice coating of white fat which helps protect the beef during the maturing process.

Robert finds there is a great demand for his finished Irish Moiled steers, most are bought by local butchers in Co. Down such as Angus Farm Shop in Greyabbey and Massey’s Butchers of Saintfield, however Robert has supplied finished Irish Moiled steers to several other outlets including Lisdergan Butchery in Fintona, Co. Tyrone. Butchers love the flavour of Irish Moilie beef and find that Irish Moiled carcasses are of perfect size, producing 8oz steaks of moderate thickness. Butchers prefer carcasses of a 4 and/or of a 4l fat covering so that they can hang the carcass for longer with the added protection from an extra bit of fat covering, which all adds to flavour of the finished product.

Our show herd

We have been breeding top quality Irish Moiled for the last 20 years and been very successful in the show circuit having won Overall Champion Irish Moiled at the Balmoral Show three times. We have also had various Champions at local County Shows all over Northern Ireland including the Irish Moiled National Show at Gosford.

We have been very careful over the years to select only the very best breeding bulls for the herd, which has resulted in producing a prize winning herd with exceptional show animals.

Our stock has proven to be very much sought after over the years in Irish Moiled Pedigree Sales. Heifers that have been purchased have gone on to win championships all over Ireland and the UK.

We usually have stock for sale throughout the year, potential buyers are very welcome to call and look round the herd at any time.