The national animal of Ireland is the Irish mountain hare, unofficially. Several species have been proposed as the country’s national animal including the red deer. While it is not officially recognized, most consider the Irish hare to be the national animal of Ireland, though other candidates are certainly quite popular.
So, Ireland officially has no national animal.
Most would consider the national animal to be the Irish hare but many may also consider it to be the red deer instead.
At one time the Irish elk was considered to be the national animal, though not much anymore.
Let’s find out more.
What is the national animal of Ireland?
Officially, Ireland has no national animal.
Not all countries do; while we tend to think of national animals as being something that all countries officially designate, this is far from the case.
Many of course choose an iconic or important species of the national wildlife to designate as the official national animal, and often it is also used on things like flags and coats of arms.
This is not the case with Ireland, and no animal is officially designated.
That said, the majority of people in Ireland tend to think of the Irish mountain hare as being the national animal of Ireland.
These hares go by many other names, and are more commonly called mountain hare and are found from Fennoscandia to the east of Siberia.
They are also called the blue hare, tundra hare, white hare and alpine hare among other names.
They seem to have arisen, evolutionarily speaking, during the Late Pleistocene, expanding their range during glaciations into southern Europe.
They are large but slightly smaller than European hare.
They are usually between 18 and 26 inches long, and generally weigh anywhere from four to eleven pounds.
Females are typically a bit heavier than the males. In good conditions they can live as long as 12 years in the wild.
Their diet can vary a lot depending on where you find a particular individual.
When times are tough and snow covers the landscape, such as in Scandinavia, they may even subsist on twigs and bark.
Grass will often form the majority of their diet where they can get it, and given a choice this seems to be what they prefer.
Hares in Ireland will certainly eat grass for the most part.
An unassuming but nonetheless fascinating creature, then—so why is it considered Ireland’s national animal?
Why is the hare considered the national animal of Ireland?
Given that this is not an official capacity and the Irish hare is not considered by all to be the national animal, answers you get to this question may vary quite a lot.
In a simple sense, small mammals like this are a vital part of Ireland, both in the sense of the literal, physical landscape and biosphere, and in terms of culture and folklore.
They embody the beauty of Ireland’s natural landscape in that they are both majestic and graceful.
Others, though, may prefer the red deer as the national animal of Ireland.
It’s hard to deny that the red deer would make a more traditionally impressive national animal—though picking the most impressive or large animal is never the way to go about choosing a national animal.
Hares have featured on coins in Ireland as have red deer, so both animals are plainly bound up with the country’s history.
So, again, it really depends on whom you ask and what their predispositions might be.
Whatever you might say about it, the hare is a very important national symbol in Ireland and will continue to be even if another animal is made the national animal.
Is the Irish hare native to Ireland?
The Irish hare is indeed native to Ireland, though this is not to say exclusively so.
The Irish, or more correctly mountain hare, is distributed over a very wide polearctic range, as mentioned, being found in far eastern Siberia as well as in Ireland.
It has also been introduced in a number of places like England and can also still be found natively in south/central Europe.
They have been in Ireland for a very long time, though, and evidence shows they may have been present as long as two million years.
Why doesn’t Ireland have an official national animal?
The simple fact is that not all countries do have a national animal.
Many do, of course, but others simply do not get round to it or perhaps cannot decide on a single animal that best embodies the whole nation.
As mentioned, some would say it’s the mountain hare but others would prefer the red deer.
There’s no requirement to decide on a national animal, and no single animal has ever been seen as the embodiment of Irish culture.
In the future an animal may be decided on, but equally it may just always been seen that there is no single animal that best represents Ireland as a whole.
So, again, while there is no officially designated national animal in Ireland, most would tend to think of it as the Irish mountain hare.
This small mammal is doubtless an iconic creature of the Irish countryside and it has been native to the country for at least 30,000 years.
That said, it’s hard to deny the allure of the power of the red deer or the Irish elk, both incredibly majestic, and iconically Irish, animals in their own right.