Our story
Irish British Friesian Club
Established in 2003 by a group of Irish farmers with a keen interest in breeding British Friesian cows. The club operates under the auspices of the Irish Holstein Friesian Association (IHFA) and shares a commitment to breeding pedigree registered quality animals suited to sustaining family farming in Ireland.
The club is growing and evolving.
With the support of the IHFA, and sponsors, trade exhibitors and host farms, the Irish British Friesian Club has hosted National Open days each summer. Attendee numbers and interest in the breed have grown every year. The club is growing too. In October 2025, club members presented a selection of top-quality British Friesian heifers, the likes of which only very rarely come up for sale to bidders in Kilkenny and online. To have an occasion to showcase so many breeders in one location was too exciting an opportunity to miss. Events like that sale generate excitement and awareness about this wonderful breed and the beautiful cows that contribute generously to our farm families.
The sale that evening capped off a day where we discussed as a club with supporters and sponsors, the traits and economics that can make this British Friesian cow a game changer for dairy farmers. Our seminar touched on some crucial factors that can contribute to your farm's successful embrace of more British Friesian genetics. With the support of IHFA classification, you will have a progression pathway to an attractive herd of quality cows.
The club and our members and our customers are enthusiastic believers in the benefits of the British Friesian breed to our Irish grass-based systems. She is fertile, easily maintained, has excellent longevity, and produces male calves with a high value in a beef enterprise.
And she is a picture to look at.
We as a club are proud of our cows. And I am proud of our club. Hopefully, this will be the start of more of these new events for this proven breed.
The club relies on the ever-available support of the IHFA, with CEO Laurence Feeney and the team always on hand to help and guide. The Irish British Friesian Club operates under the auspices of the IHFA and is incredibly grateful to them and all our sponsors and trade stand exhibitors at the many events we have run and will run in to the future.
Thank you to our friends in the UK British Friesian club for their interest in our efforts to progress the British Friesian cow for our Irish grass-based system.
Patrick Quealy,
Chairman,
Irish British Friesian Club