Cattle numbers — Kerry
323,700, latest 2026 (+0.0% year on year, from 323,700).
323,700 head of cattle were counted. Dairy cows accounted for the largest share (96,100, 30%). Next largest was Cattle: under 1 year (92,800). 6 categories have a reported change small enough that the source's own rounding to the nearest 100 could account for most or all of it.
What these terms mean
- Number of Cattle in June
- CSO's annual county-level count of cattle, taken from AIMS (the national animal identification and movement register) as at 1 June each year. Source
- Other cows
- CSO's label for cows kept for suckling/beef rather than milk -- i.e. all cows that are not dairy cows.
- Cattle: 2 years and over
- Cattle aged 2 years or older that are not counted as cows or bulls -- mostly breeding replacements and finishing animals not yet calved or used for service.
Before you use these figures
- Dublin's herd is small enough that percentages swing hard: Dublin has by far the smallest cattle population of any county -- its bull count, for example, is typically only 100-200 head. A change of a few dozen animals there can read as a large percentage move that would be unremarkable anywhere else.
- From the national cattle register, not a sample survey: CSO's own background notes say cattle figures are extracted from AIMS, the Animal Identification and Movement System -- the administrative register every animal's passport and ear tag feed -- as at 1 June each year. Unlike some other measures in the same release, this is close to a full administrative count, not a sample estimate.
- A snapshot on 1 June, not a year-round figure: Cattle numbers move throughout the year as calves are born and animals are moved, finished or exported. This is a single day's count, so only comparisons against the same date a year earlier are meaningful -- there is no month-to-month reading to make.
- Counted where the animal was, not where it was born or will be sold: An animal is attributed to the county of the holding it was on on 1 June. Young stock destined for finishing or export elsewhere is still counted at its current holding, so a county's figure describes what was standing in its fields that day, not local breeding or sales activity on its own.
- Not adjusted for population, 2015: This area's 2015 figure was 97,900, well outside the typical range for other areas that reported for 2015 (median about 25,600 across 25 other areas). This figure is a raw count, not adjusted for population — a larger area is expected to report a larger number regardless of anything unusual happening there. Not itself a sign of a data problem.
Cite this figure:
Cattle numbers 323,700 for Kerry, 2026 Caveats: Dublin's herd is small enough that percentages swing hard; From the national cattle register, not a sample survey; A snapshot on 1 June, not a year-round figure; Counted where the animal was, not where it was born or will be sold; Not adjusted for population, 2015 StatsMapped last confirmed this figure unchanged on 11 Oct 2026. Source: CSO PxStat https://statsmapped.com/ireland/county/kerry/cattle-kerry