Holy cow – Galway heifer produces rare red calf for ‘delighted’ Pope
From this week's Galway City Tribune - It mightn’t rank with the miracle of the loaves and fishes . . . but yet the black cow from Oranmore who produced a red calf for the Pope seemed to defy rationale.
The tale starts with an Oranmore farmer and cattle dealer who was asked to source two Aberdeen Angus in-calf heifers for the Vatican farm at Castel Gandolfo near Rome.
A Midlands cattle dealer and exporter with regular contracts for Italian farmers, enlisted the help of Oranmore’s Pat Flaherty to source the two pedigree Aberdeen Anguses.
The farmer and dealer – highly regarded for his knowledge of all things bovine – duly obliged, sourcing his two Anguses, in calf to a pedigree bull of the same breed.
Over the course of the summer, the two Anguses – sisters in spirit – made their journey to the Vatican farm where the expectant mothers were made feel at home as their big days approached.
All going swimmingly well, one might assume, until one of the Anguses gave birth to a ‘bouncing baby’ red bull calf . . . but alas there was a little problem relating to colour.
The new owners expected that the progeny should have been black – as is the case with roughly 99% of the breed – so there was a concern that an amorous red Limousin male might have tarnished the honour of the Angus Mom in the springtime.
The trail led back to Oranmore but here the matter was resolved ‘once and for all’ when Pat Flaherty was able to produce the paperwork showing that the Dad was a pure black, pedigree Angus.
Apparently, while it is rare, pedigree Anguses can produce a red calf, so the Vatican – and their farm management team at Castel Gandolfo – have been assured that nothing untoward happened at the time of conception.
Oranmore Parish Priest, Fr. Diarmuid Hogan, told the Galway City Tribune light-heartedly that the word from Rome was that ‘Farmer Francis’ was delighted with the new arrival, having coming from a country noted for its cattle and steaks (Argentina).
(Photo: Oranmore’s Aberdeen Angus and her red calf on the Vatican farm at Castel Gandolfo). This is a shortened preview version of this article. To read the rest of the story, see this week's Galway City Tribune. You can buy a digital edition HERE.