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Cattle Breeders and Breed Pioneers

Omer Van Landeghem and the Skidoo Charolais Herd of North Dublin

His north Dublin herd brought French Charolais to an Irish farm and stayed a pedigree name for more than half a century.

Who was Omer Van Landeghem?

Omer Van Landeghem owned the Skidoo farm in north County Dublin and, in 1966, brought some of the first Charolais cattle onto it. Very little personal detail about him appears in the sources consulted. They record no birth date, no account of his earlier career, and only one firm date for his life: he died in 1995.

What they do record is a herd. Agriland's report on the herd's dispersal describes Skidoo as one of Ireland's most famous Charolais pedigree herds and credits him with founding it. This profile is therefore built around the cattle and the breed's arrival in Ireland, with every personal claim limited to what that report states.

When did Charolais cattle first come to Ireland?

Dates differ depending on what is counted. According to a Farmers Journal feature on 50 years of Charolais in Ireland, Charolais cattle arrived from France in autumn 1964. Three Department of Agriculture staff, John Beattie, Reddy Day and Austin Mescal, selected eight males and 12 females in France, and the animals were quarantined in France and on Spike Island in Cork before moving to the Department's Thorndale farm in Dublin.

The same feature notes that Charles J. Haughey is often credited with the import, but that the planning belonged to farm minister Paddy Smith and his officials. By 1965 Haughey was minister, and five private buyers were approved to import more Charolais. Van Landeghem's 1966 arrival therefore sits in this second, private wave, so the claim that Skidoo held the first Charolais on the island does not hold up. The accurate version is that his farm took some of the first.

How were the Skidoo foundation cattle brought in?

The Agriland report says the Charolais heifers and bulls came from France and were quarantined on Spike Island in Cork Harbour before reaching the farm in north County Dublin. It also says he spent eight years working toward bringing the breed to the farm. The report does not explain what filled those years, so none is guessed here.

The same route, from a French farm through Spike Island quarantine to Ireland, is the one the Irish Farmers Journal history describes for the Department's first animals.

The Skidoo sires and the herd

Agriland names several sires that helped build the herd: Shamrock Ambassador, Uranus, Emperor, Commander and Flambeau. It says Skidoo Champion and Skidoo Pacha remain popular. A bull named Shamrock Ambassadeur is also described in the Farmers Journal as a 1965 Department animal that drew a rejected 100,000 pound offer from the United States, but the sources do not say whether this is the same animal as the Skidoo sire, so no link is claimed.

At the time of the dispersal the pedigree herd stood at 100 cows and a commercial herd at 160, as reported. For scale, the Farmers Journal cites 2,465 listed Charolais breeders in Ireland at the time of its 50-year feature, concentrated in the west and northwest.

What Made It Work

The record is thin on motives, so the points below come only from the facts the sources provide. The lasting part of the story is that Skidoo survived its founder.

A fair note on limits: the sources give no figures on sales, prices or profit, and nothing on how the herd performed commercially.

  • Patience: he reportedly worked for eight years to bring the breed to his farm.
  • Imported foundation stock: heifers and bulls came from France rather than from a domestic herd.
  • A lasting herd name: Skidoo Champion and Skidoo Pacha are reported as still popular sires.
  • Continuity: after his death in 1995 the herd passed to Pat McDonagh, and from 2010 Donal Callery managed it.
  • Scale: a pedigree herd of about 100 cows alongside 160 commercial cows.

What happened to the Skidoo herd?

After Van Landeghem died in 1995, Pat McDonagh bought the farm and herd. In 2010 Donal Callery took over management. Agriland reports that the female pedigree animals went under the hammer on a Saturday, 14 September, with 122 lots including 30 cows with calves at foot, autumn-calving cows, in-calf heifers and maiden heifers. No bulls were sold at that sale, and a male sale was planned for February.

The farm was changing course. The report says it was switching to dairy, with about 300 cows due to enter a new rotary parlour in spring 2021 and a target of 400 cows. For a deeper look at the cattle trade, see the ranching section of farm.FM, or read a farm.FM story about Charolais cattle.

Timeline

  1. 1964First Department of Agriculture Charolais arrive from France
  2. 1965Five private buyers approved to import Charolais
  3. 1966Charolais heifers and bulls arrive at Skidoo, north County Dublin
  4. 1995Van Landeghem dies; Pat McDonagh buys farm and herd
  5. 2010Donal Callery takes over management
  6. 2021Spring target for the farm's new dairy parlour

Frequently asked questions

Who was Omer Van Landeghem?

He was the founder of the Skidoo Charolais herd on a farm in north County Dublin. He brought some of Ireland's earliest Charolais from France in 1966 and died in 1995.

Did he bring the first Charolais to Ireland?

Not quite. The Department of Agriculture imported the first Charolais from France in autumn 1964. Van Landeghem brought some of the early private imports to his Skidoo farm in 1966.

What happened to the Skidoo Charolais herd?

After his death in 1995, Pat McDonagh bought the farm and herd. Its pedigree females were later sold in a dispersal sale of 122 lots as the farm moved into dairying.

How did Charolais cattle get to Ireland?

They came by ship from France, were quarantined on Spike Island in Cork Harbour, and then moved to farms in Dublin and beyond.

Sources and further reading

Profiles are compiled from public sources and reviewed against them. See our editorial policy to suggest a correction.

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