Cattle numbers — Offaly
256,100, latest 2026 (+0.0% year on year, from 256,100).
256,100 head of cattle were counted. Cattle: 1-2 years accounted for the largest share (76,400, 30%). Next largest was Cattle: under 1 year (75,300). 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. Since this breakdown began in 2015, Dairy cows has risen 69% (from 25,600 to 43,300) against 10% for the total, and accounts for 78% of the overall increase.
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 256,100 for Offaly, 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/offaly/cattle-offaly