This Sheep has Sailed

Roscommon GAA, one of the 32 county boards of Ireland’s Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA), recently made a significant change to its crest: It replaced the sheep on it. Previously a generic breed of sheep was being used instead of the more appropriate Roscommon Sheep, which is one of only two native breeds in Ireland. This all started because in 2023, local sheep breeders at a council meeting of the Roscommon County Council questioned whether the council’s own crest was using the wrong breed of sheep on their crest. While that wasn’t the case and they were using the correct breed, this episode raised awareness of sheep misrepresentation in Ireland and that’s a happy ending if you ask me.