Cattle numbers — Mayo
264,000, latest 2026 (+0.0% year on year, from 264,000).
264,000 head of cattle were counted. Cattle: under 1 year accounted for the largest share (77,800, 29%). Next largest was Cattle: 1-2 years (64,700). 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
- 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.
- 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.
Cite this figure:
Cattle numbers 264,000 for Mayo, 2026 Caveats: 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; Dublin's herd is small enough that percentages swing hard StatsMapped last confirmed this figure unchanged on 11 Oct 2026. Source: CSO PxStat https://statsmapped.com/ireland/county/mayo/cattle-mayo