What started as two pet goats nine years ago has turned into a herd of 100 milking goats today and a business for Angela O’Hanlon.
ngela, who runs Dingle Goats’ Cheese, supplying hotels and restaurants throughout the country, says she never envisioned starting her own business when she first began milking two goats by hand in her back garden.
“I bought two goats in 2014 with the intention of milking them for our house. My children were young and had asthma and eczema and I heard goat’s milk was a good cure.
“So I bought two Saanens from a lady in Killarney who showed me how to milk them by hand. From growing up in an estate in Dublin, I had no idea about goats, let alone milking them so it was a learning curve,” says Angela, who met her husband Shane while in school and moved to Kerry, where his family were originally from.
“His ancestors moved to Kildare during the time of the Land Commission. It’s always been Shane’s dream to move here so 15 years ago we bought the house and the surrounding land. We wanted to raise a family in the countryside.”
Angela soon got the hang of it and after seeing the results in her children’s health, she decided to expand her herd, bringing in a buck goat to breed the two females.
Read More