The Burren Winterage: Cattle That Go Up the Hill in Winter

Everywhere else in Europe, cattle come down off the hills for winter. In the Burren they go up. The limestone holds enough warmth and drains well enough that the uplands are the better winter ground, and that grazing is exactly what stops scrub taking over and shading out the flowers — which is why 23 of Ireland's 28 orchid species grow here, and why Arctic-alpine and Mediterranean plants share the same hillside. When farming industrialised and cattle moved to silage and sheds, the flowers began to lose. Restoring winterage is now conservation policy, and Burrenbeo runs a Winterage Festival around the October bank holiday to mark the cattle going up.