Some 3,000 years of history is locked inside the DNA of a single species—the old Irish Goat (Capra aegagrus hircus). This rare indigenous breed is Ireland’s only native goat species and shares a genetic link to goats living across the country during the Late Bronze Age. Meet the old Irish GoatKnown historically as an Gabhar Fiáin—or the wild goat—the old Irish Goat is deeply rooted in both Irish folklore and agriculture. By 1891, there were an estimated 282,000 old Irish Goats in the country based on an agricultural census of 1891. The team found that both prehistoric and medieval Irish goats were the most genetically similar to the still-surviving old Irish Goat.