Wolves to rewild Granard

Shock collars and radio fence technology will be used to keep the animals safely in the enclosure.

This is not an April Fool's joke. Wolves are really coming to Granard.

The New Norman Heritage Park in Granard, Co. Longford, set to open in 2022, will feature Wolves as part of their rare breed livestock section after getting the go-ahead from the Rewilding Europe Programme.

“This is great news for us today to get this confirmation. Wolves would have been a big feature of the Norman landscape in Ireland and are extinct here for 250 years,” explained Bartle D'Arcy General Manager Granard Motte Development.

The Norman Heritage Park are only the second place in Ireland to qualify for European funding from the Rewilding Europe Programme. It is something Minister for Tourism Catherine Martin has previously supported when Rewilding was introduced as a policy by Green Party Leader Eamonn Ryan back in 2019.

The Granard Wolf pack will be coming from the Highland Wildlife Park near Kingussie in the Scottish Highlands and will be able to roam an enclosed two acre area of the park freely.

Shock collars and radio fence technology will be used to keep the animals safely in the enclosure.

“The howl of the wolf will greatly add to the atmosphere of our Norman Park,” said Bartle D'Arcy General Manager Granard Motte Development.

The Norman Heritage Park will feature a full recreation of a fortified Norman Motte and Bailey and will include Burgess plots with a working forge and mill in the market square area.

The existing Granard Motte is the tallest in Ireland at 163m above sea level and was founded by Richard de Tuite in 1199 as an outlier fort on the edge of the Norman Pale to protect it from the native Gael.

The Gaelic word for Wolf is “Mac an Tir” son of the land and a Wolfshead is still a term for outlaw in English Law.