0:02:39 > 0:02:42After the battles that took place in Ireland in this time period,
0:02:42 > 0:02:45many of the Irish and the wolves retreated into the forest
0:02:45 > 0:02:48as a way of escaping from the conflict and also
0:02:48 > 0:02:51as a way of regrouping and making occasional forays back out
0:02:51 > 0:02:53and targeting the new settlers.
0:02:53 > 0:02:56So you have this conflagration together of wolves and rebels,
0:02:56 > 0:02:58and so on, that were being put together
0:02:58 > 0:03:01as being something that needed to be eliminated or reduced
0:03:01 > 0:03:04to such an extent that it wouldn't threaten the settlers
0:03:04 > 0:03:08and their creation of new-style plantations and estates in Ireland.
0:03:08 > 0:03:11SHOUTING SWORDS CLASH
0:03:24 > 0:03:27We have stories and records of wolves coming down after the battles,
0:03:27 > 0:03:29taking and eating the bodies of the slain
0:03:29 > 0:03:32and probably even targeting the injured.
0:03:32 > 0:03:36One example comes from 1573 after the battle of Bel-an-Chip
0:03:36 > 0:03:40and this says, "Clamorous were the ravens and carrion crows
0:03:40 > 0:03:43"and other ravenous birds of the air and the wolves of the forest
0:03:43 > 0:03:47"over the bodies of the nobles slain in the battle on that day."
0:04:42 > 0:04:44- GUNSHOT - Aargh!
0:04:49 > 0:04:50Aargh!
0:04:52 > 0:04:53Aargh!
0:06:08 > 0:06:10Pray you, no more of this.
0:06:20 > 0:06:22And now for our Irish wars.
0:07:16 > 0:07:20HOWLING
0:07:52 > 0:07:56'The King being given to understand the great loss and hindrance
0:07:56 > 0:07:58'which arose in Ireland by the multitude of wolves
0:07:58 > 0:08:01'in all parts of the kingdom did by letters from Newmarket,
0:08:01 > 0:08:04'26th November, 1614,
0:08:04 > 0:08:07'direct a grant to be made by patent to Henric Tuttesham,
0:08:07 > 0:08:10'who by petition had made offer to repair to Ireland,
0:08:10 > 0:08:13'and there use his best skill and endeavour
0:08:13 > 0:08:15'to destroy the said wolves.'
0:08:15 > 0:08:18BARKING
0:09:03 > 0:09:05GUNSHOT
0:09:05 > 0:09:06WHIMPERING
0:09:14 > 0:09:16WHIMPERING
0:09:44 > 0:09:46There was a wide variety of methods in Ireland used to hunt wolves
0:09:46 > 0:09:49and these included things like traps and pitfalls.
0:09:49 > 0:09:53The animal would fall into pits, which would contain spikes,
0:09:53 > 0:09:56which would obviously impale the animal and kill the animal as well.
0:09:56 > 0:09:58Clearly in the Irish contexts, as well,
0:09:58 > 0:10:00we've got the famous Irish wolfhound
0:10:00 > 0:10:03and this dog would have been bred particularly to fight
0:10:03 > 0:10:05and to target and to hunt wolves.
0:10:05 > 0:10:07So the dog would have been as big as the wolf
0:10:07 > 0:10:11and also would have similar abilities in terms of stamina and ferocity.
0:10:11 > 0:10:13DOGS BARK
0:10:13 > 0:10:16Basically these dogs were hunting by sight
0:10:16 > 0:10:21and they were involved in actually trying to catch and kill the wolves.
0:10:22 > 0:10:25We have large dogs from early archaeological sites,
0:10:25 > 0:10:30so we know large dogs were available to breed up into these breeds.
0:10:30 > 0:10:32So there are animals like these,
0:10:32 > 0:10:35these dog skulls here are from archaeological sites
0:10:35 > 0:10:38that are at least 1,000 years old
0:10:38 > 0:10:42and they would have been hunting dogs of their time.
0:10:43 > 0:10:45BARKING
0:11:14 > 0:11:16WHIMPERING
0:13:14 > 0:13:17'The subtle wolf, finding himself to be overmatched,
0:13:17 > 0:13:19'ran straight-aways to a steep hill,
0:13:19 > 0:13:22'and there with all made such a howling noise
0:13:22 > 0:13:24'that he called such a number of wolves together
0:13:24 > 0:13:27'that all the power they had was not able to resist them.'
0:13:29 > 0:13:31HOWLING
0:13:42 > 0:13:44WHISPERING
0:13:46 > 0:13:48GROWLING
0:13:53 > 0:13:56WOMAN SCREAMS
0:16:16 > 0:16:20The Commonwealth, which had been targeting Irish priests
0:16:20 > 0:16:22and Irish soldiers now started also to target Irish wolves,
0:16:22 > 0:16:24and these were all seen in the same way,
0:16:24 > 0:16:27as something that was undesirable, that they didn't want
0:16:27 > 0:16:30and wanted removed as quickly as possible.
0:16:30 > 0:16:31HAMMER THUDS
0:16:31 > 0:16:33Such was the concern about the increasing
0:16:33 > 0:16:37wolf populations in Ireland in the 1650s that there was
0:16:37 > 0:16:41a Declaration Touching Wolves, which was issued on the 29th June 1653.
0:16:44 > 0:16:48"A Declaration for the Destroying of Wolves -
0:16:48 > 0:16:51"For the better destroying of wolves, which of late years have
0:16:51 > 0:16:54"much increased in most parts of this Nation."
0:17:19 > 0:17:24"We have three beasts to destroy that lay burdens upon us.
0:17:24 > 0:17:27"The first is the wolf, on whom we lay £5 a head if a dog,
0:17:27 > 0:17:29"and £10 if a bitch.
0:17:29 > 0:17:34"The second beast is a priest, on whose head we lay £10.
0:17:34 > 0:17:38"The third beast is a Tory, on whose head, if he be a public Tory,
0:17:38 > 0:17:41"we lay £20."
0:17:42 > 0:17:44The native Irish were actually demonised
0:17:44 > 0:17:47by political satirists in the Commonwealth as well,
0:17:47 > 0:17:51and one of the ways they did this was relating the Irish as if
0:17:51 > 0:17:53they were actually wolf or wolf-like in appearance
0:17:53 > 0:17:56and in the way they behaved.
0:17:56 > 0:18:00An example is a report after a battle in Cashel, County Tipperary
0:18:00 > 0:18:04in 1647, when one of the reports said some of the Irish
0:18:04 > 0:18:07who were slaughtered actually had wolf tails,
0:18:07 > 0:18:09which obviously is completely
0:18:09 > 0:18:12and utterly ridiculous in a modern context, but it shows the way
0:18:12 > 0:18:14the Commonwealth were trying to demonise the Irish
0:18:14 > 0:18:16and portray them in a way that was sub-human
0:18:16 > 0:18:20and therefore you could justify their maltreatment in a much easier manner.
0:19:06 > 0:19:08WOLF HOWLS
0:20:27 > 0:20:30One of the latest examples of the last wolf in Ireland -
0:20:30 > 0:20:32obviously these records go into the 1700s -
0:20:32 > 0:20:36is from 1786 and it's the estate of Ballydarton House
0:20:36 > 0:20:39and the owner at the time was John Watson
0:20:39 > 0:20:43and he claims to have killed the last wolf in Ireland on Mount Leinster,
0:20:43 > 0:20:46which is on the County Carlow/Wexford border,
0:20:46 > 0:20:49as a result of this wolf killing sheep, and this is probably,
0:20:49 > 0:20:52realistically, the last wolf in Ireland.
0:21:12 > 0:21:15WOLF SNARLS
0:21:16 > 0:21:17GUNSHOT
0:21:19 > 0:21:21WOLF WHIMPERS
0:21:35 > 0:21:38It is just barely possible indeed that an isolated specimen or two
0:21:38 > 0:21:42of the breed may yet exist among the pathless wilds of Connemara.
0:23:21 > 0:23:25My strong feeling would be that the wolf is a non-starter.
0:23:25 > 0:23:29With many of these large carnivores, they need an enormous amounts
0:23:29 > 0:23:32of free space, without competition from people.
0:23:32 > 0:23:35They need to have a breeding population,
0:23:35 > 0:23:39they need very large areas that are dedicated just for wildlife
0:23:39 > 0:23:42and Ireland simply isn't giving up that kind of space.
0:23:42 > 0:23:44If we wanted to do something like reintroduce wolves,
0:23:44 > 0:23:47we would probably have to get used to the idea that
0:23:47 > 0:23:51very large areas would have to be given up in terms of agriculture.
0:23:51 > 0:23:53I don't see that happening.
0:24:21 > 0:24:23WOLF HOWLS
0:24:23 > 0:24:26Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd