History of the Irish Black Breed

In the 1930's the world-renowned geneticist Dr. Jay Lush promoted the genetic theory that said consistent quality would be best achieved by a concentrated gene pool through line breeding. 

Maruice Boney, studied under Dr. Lush and in the 1960's decided to adopt the theory and then apply it to his herd in Colorado. He started with dams from American Aberdeen Angus of the Revolution line and then imported a purebred Friesian bull from Ireland to breed to the dams. 

In 1971 Mr. Boney closed the herd and continued to focus on the qualities he wanted within this new breed. From the Revolution Line he focused on high fertility, hardiness, consistent performance, and feed capacity. From the Friesian side he focused on carcass quality, calving ease, and utter quality. In 1997, he applied for and received a patent from the United States  government, establishing the Irish Black breed as a separate and unique  breed of beef cattle. In the late 90's Mr. Boney continued to focus on improving carcass quality by using ultrasounds on the heifers and bulls to ensure he was obtaining the desired quality within the beef. 

By 2009 the Irish Black Breed was well established throughout various regions of the United States from the West to East coast and from the Canadian border to the South. The genetic power of an Irish Black produces a highly fertile, well balanced animal exhibiting excellent beef industry performance and conformation traits. Irish Blacks are coveted by purebred producers for their rewarding  economic returns, and highly sought after by progressive commercial  cattle producers for their consistent quality and their excellent return  on investment. 

Due to the breed’s high consistency for superior production and market  traits, the number of Irish Black producers has been growing slowly but  steadily for over 40 years.  These producers are under an exclusive  contractual agreement and have organized the Irish Black Cattle  Association to collect, record and preserve the pedigrees of Irish Black  and Irish Red cattle.  Awareness of the quality of the product has also  been expanding through the meat packing and restaurant industries.