‘Booleying in Ireland – A Study of an Ancient Farming Tradition in Achill, Co. Mayo’ by Dr. Theresa McDonald of Achill Archaeological Field School. Published in the summer of 2025, this 331 page book offers a fascinating insight into the practice of ‘booleying’, or transhumance, on Achill Island.
From the publisher:
This book offers a detailed account of booleying both in Achill and beyond. Drawing on extensive research from Ireland, Britain, and continental Europe, the book challenges the view of booleying as a post-medieval practice, typically outside the scope of traditional archaeology. By examining early Irish manuscripts and cross-referencing findings, the research sheds new light on the origins of booleying, suggesting its roots stretch back to the prehistoric period. The book highlights how farmers maximized economic resources through transhumance, altering perceptions of the significance of booleying beyond the 19th-century rundale system. This work provides a fresh perspective on the history and importance of transhumance in Ireland and Achill. It is based on extensive research on transhumance or booleying in Ireland, Britain and Scandinavia with many new insights into its economic and social aspects over a long period of time.
