New book on Ireland’s largest sheep farm in Mayo

A forgotten chapter of Mayo and Irish history is brought vividly to life in Seventy Years in the Wild West, the remarkable new book by historian and former Teagasc agricultural advisor, Sean Cadden. 

Published by Mayo Books Press, this meticulously researched work uncovers the story of Ireland’s largest sheep farm, Dhulough Farm in southwest Mayo, and the tragic human cost of its creation.

The seeds of the book were sown over 60 years ago, when Cadden, then a young advisor, listened to elderly farmers around Louisburgh recall the devastating evictions that followed the Great Famine. Their memories told of families forced from their homes across 44 townlands by the Marquis of Sligo and the Earl of Lucan to make way for massive sheep enterprises under Captain William Houstoun and John Louden. Houstoun established the 45,000-acre Dhulough Farm, working with imported Scotch Blackface sheep, while Louden ran the neighbouring Killary Farm.

“This could be described as the last plantation of Ireland,” writes Cadden. “The inhabitants did not have to move to Connacht; they were already there, but to a nearby overcrowded townland with bad land.” 

The human tragedy was immense. Coming so soon after the Famine, the mass clearances accelerated population decline, leaving scars on the land and its people. Yet, by the early 20th century, agrarian agitation forced change. The Congested Districts Board purchased Dhulough, dividing it into over 90 farms, many of which were returned to descendants of the very families once driven out.

Alongside this turbulent history, Cadden examines the Houstouns’ experimental farming methods, the building of Dhulough Lodge, and the writings of Matilda Houstoun, whose own memoir Twenty Years in the Wild West inspired the title of Cadden’s book. While Matilda acknowledged the ‘misery’ caused by their arrival, her words also reveal the contradictions of a family whose presence reshaped Mayo’s landscape and memory.

The book is also rich in genealogical records and rare photographs, offering families in the region a unique resource to trace their past.

Cadden is no stranger to collaborative historical work. With his wife Peggy, also a respected local historian, he has contributed to major publications including Remember Us: The People’s War, Newport Area, Mayo 1914–1924 and The Men of the West – West Mayo Brigade, War of Independence 1919–1921. Yet Seventy Years in the Wild West is his magnum opus, a labour of love of a lifetime that combines oral history, archival research, and a huge respect for the communities whose stories he tells.

The book will launch on Friday, September 5th, at 7.30pm in the Parish Hall, Louisburgh in an event hosted by the Louisburgh-Killeen Heritage Group. The launch will be performed by Ciarán Staunton. 

A Westport launch will take place on Thursday, September 25th, at 8pm in the Plaza Hotel. Catherine Kenna, Head of Countryside Management with Teagasc will perform the launch.

The Castlebar launch will be part of the Wild Atlantic Words Festival on Thursday, October 9th, at 7.30pm. Harry Hughes of Westport Historical Society will launch the book there.

Seventy Years in the Wild West: The Rise and Fall of Ireland’s Largest Sheep Farm, Southwest Mayo, 1851–1923 is available now from all good bookshops and online at www.mayobooks.ie.