Lost Galtee mountain tradition recalled in Tipperary exhibition

A photography exhibition is soon to be on display in the Nenagh Arts centre, capturing the ‘booleying’ tradition of the Galtee mountains. Booleying is the Irish term for transhumance, or moving livestock seasonally between lowland and upland pastures. 

In Ireland, this tradition allowed farmers to graze cattle in the uplands during summer, taking advantage of the seasonal growth at higher altitudes, and freeing up lowland fields for crop cultivation and the cutting of hay. A photographic exhibition on the forgotten pastoral customs is being hosted from April 9 to April 25 in the Nenagh Arts Centre by artist Alan Tobin. 

“What fascinates most”, says Tobin, “about booleying is its semi-nomadic nature.

“This unique pattern of seasonal settlement has vanished from the mainstream historical record, yet the remains of these dwellings still dot the Galtee landscape”.

Herders lived for months in a small stone hut called a buaile (‘booley’ in English), and while in the uplands, the main pursuit was dairying and butter production. However, a range of other economic pursuits existed alongside the growing of potatoes or the cutting of peat, as herders strove to make the most of their summer in the hills.

‘Buaile’ will be launched at the Nenagh Arts Centre on Thursday April 9 at 6pm.