A final application to obtain a Protected Geographical Indication (PGI) for ‘Comeragh Mountain Lamb’ has been submitted by the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM).
It was published earlier this week, and is another step in the process towards achieving the PGI status from the European Commission.
Following scrutiny of the application for a PGI for ‘Comeragh Mountain Lamb’, the DAFM submitted the application to the European Commission for evaluation in April 2019.
Following receipt of technical queries from the European Commission, a revised single document and specification document addressing these technical queries were submitted on May 8, 2024 for further evaluation.
This week, on Monday, June 17, the DAFM published the final application to the European Commission.
A PGI emphasises the relationship between the specific geographic region and the name of the product, where a particular quality, reputation or other characteristic is essentially attributable to its geographical origin.
For most products, at least one of the stages of production, processing or preparation takes place in the region.
‘Comeragh Mountain Lamb’ is the meat from lambs of the Scotch Blackface breed, born and raised in the Comeragh Mountain region of Co. Waterford.
The lambs are medium in body weight and bone, and the carcass is lean with a light cover of fat.
The meat colour varies from a pale pink for younger lambs to a darker pink as they age and has a solid deep texture.
The lamb has a naturally mild, slightly sweet taste, which is derived from the herbs and grasses on which they feed.
Lambs are born in the spring, usually beginning in the first week of April, with the majority of the lambs born in the following three weeks.
Following birth, the lambs suckle on the ewe for the natural lactating period and are naturally weaned off the mothers.
The first lambs are ready for the market in August of the birth year, with slaughtering starting when they reach 13-22 kg carcass weight depending on age (at about 16 weeks of age) while no lamb is slaughtered beyond 12 months of age.
The meat is matured for at least five days and up to 14 days.
Comeragh Mountain Lamb
‘Comeragh Mountain Lamb’ is derived from Scotch Blackface sheep born and raised in the Comeragh Mountain region and the lambs must be born and raised on farms within this designated geographical area.
No intensive feeding takes place as lambs are raised extensively on grassland, within the
geographical area and according to traditional husbandry practices of Comeragh sheep farming.
Additional feeding may only take place in exceptional circumstances where feed is necessary due to lack of vegetation, adverse weather conditions or lack of growth.
Supplemental feed is restricted to a maximum of 30% in these circumstances.
‘Comeragh Mountain Lamb’ roam free range over extensive areas of mountain.
The wide variety of grasses, flowers, herbs and heathers mean they graze over a much broader and more varied landscape than their lowland counterparts and drink only natural mountain spring water.