0:05:21 > 0:05:24What kind of breed of cattle are these and why are they special?
0:05:24 > 0:05:25This is a Dexter cow.
0:05:25 > 0:05:29They're an Irish breed of cow and they date back as far as the 1800s
0:05:29 > 0:05:32from Dundrum in County Tipperary.
0:05:32 > 0:05:34It was a guy called Mr Dexter
0:05:34 > 0:05:38and he had interbred the Angus and the Kerry Blue
0:05:38 > 0:05:43and that's how they came up with the smaller cow - they're smaller than both those breeds of cows.
0:05:43 > 0:05:46Years ago, every small farmer would've had a Dexter, a Dexter cow.
0:05:46 > 0:05:49They would have kept them for their beef and their milk
0:05:49 > 0:05:53and they were known as the poor man's...the poor man's cow.
0:05:53 > 0:05:55So, and then, when the bigger cattle came in from the Continent,
0:05:55 > 0:05:59like the Charolais and the Limousins and that, the Dexter
0:05:59 > 0:06:01sort of become a dying breed,
0:06:01 > 0:06:03up until, you know, about 10, 15 years ago.
0:06:03 > 0:06:06There was a lady in Northern Ireland, Deirdre Hilton,
0:06:06 > 0:06:10who was very active in getting the Irish Dexter back into Ireland
0:06:10 > 0:06:14and getting the breed well known again, which today, you know,
0:06:14 > 0:06:16is quite well known, so it's gone from, like,
0:06:16 > 0:06:20a poor man's cattle, to, like, a gourmet beef, which is great.
0:06:20 > 0:06:21They're very easy to keep.
0:06:21 > 0:06:24You know, they're very light on the land and, of course,
0:06:24 > 0:06:27then they're very easy fed, because they're grass-fed only.
0:06:27 > 0:06:30And talking about the grass, why is this particular
0:06:30 > 0:06:33part of the country, you know, good for keeping these kind of cattle?
0:06:33 > 0:06:36Well, because they're an Irish cow, they thrive in hilly land.
0:06:36 > 0:06:39They don't need a really, really rich grass,
0:06:39 > 0:06:41which a lot of the big animals may need to sustain them.
0:06:41 > 0:06:44And we're very lucky down here, because we're right beside the coast,
0:06:44 > 0:06:47so our animals would... A lot of them that we would be finishing,
0:06:47 > 0:06:49we'd finish them down by Ballyhoorisky
0:06:49 > 0:06:51and they would be eating a lot of seaweed and all the sea grass,
0:06:51 > 0:06:55which has a lot of natural salts and a lot of goodness in the land
0:06:55 > 0:06:58and they would also...they would forage away for the natural herbs
0:06:58 > 0:07:01and heathers and things like that that other cows might not like to eat.
0:07:01 > 0:07:03Do you find yourself becoming attached to the animals
0:07:03 > 0:07:06and do your children become attached to them in any way?
0:07:06 > 0:07:09Our first Irish-born cow was born in 2009.
0:07:09 > 0:07:11She's called Maisie Moo. She'll always be here.
0:07:11 > 0:07:15Um, you know...we'll never, sort of, sausage her!
0:07:15 > 0:07:16But, no, you can't really form it.
0:07:16 > 0:07:20If you've a herd of 200 animals, you can't really form an attachment.
0:07:20 > 0:07:21You'd go very hungry!
0:07:21 > 0:07:23THEY LAUGH
0:07:23 > 0:07:25And how have consumers responded to this kind of thing?
0:07:25 > 0:07:28I think a lot of people are going back to farm-to-fork.
0:07:28 > 0:07:29They want to know who the farmer is.
0:07:29 > 0:07:32They want to know where the animal comes from, how it's kept,
0:07:32 > 0:07:36that everything is above board, that they're treated well, and again,
0:07:36 > 0:07:38what goes into their food system - you know,
0:07:38 > 0:07:40there's no growing agents or anything fed our animals,
0:07:40 > 0:07:42because they're allowed to grow naturally.
0:07:42 > 0:07:44They're allowed to fatten naturally.
0:07:44 > 0:07:46Our animals are two and a half, nearly three years
0:07:46 > 0:07:49before they go to slaughter, so it's like a fine wine or a cheese -
0:07:49 > 0:07:52the longer you leave it, the better it becomes.
0:10:12 > 0:10:16MUSIC: The Good Life by Tony Bennett
0:10:19 > 0:10:24# Oh, the good life
0:10:25 > 0:10:30# Full of fun, seems to be the ideal... #
0:10:41 > 0:10:46# All the sadness you feel... #
0:10:53 > 0:10:55# ..fall in love... #
0:11:10 > 0:11:14# Don't try to fake romance
0:11:17 > 0:11:21# It's the good life
0:11:21 > 0:11:27# To be free and explore the unknown... #
0:18:07 > 0:18:11A lot of people hadn't heard of the concept of a more environmental
0:18:11 > 0:18:16or more sustainable coffin, but once people sort of started,
0:18:16 > 0:18:20I suppose, listening to the fact that you're chopping down oak trees
0:18:20 > 0:18:24that were standing there for maybe 300 years
0:18:24 > 0:18:26and not being replaced, the fact that we're making coffins
0:18:26 > 0:18:31out of a more sustainable material suddenly made sense.
0:18:31 > 0:18:34We're also looking at bringing back, I suppose,
0:18:34 > 0:18:38a skill that has been lost in Ireland, which is basket weaving.
0:19:10 > 0:19:13You often hear people say, "Oh, just bury me under a tree."
0:19:13 > 0:19:15That was one of the things that actually got us thinking
0:19:15 > 0:19:17about this business was hearing people say that.
0:19:17 > 0:19:20I suppose you look at your traditional graveyard -
0:19:20 > 0:19:25you've got big marble headstones, concrete surrounds, concrete paths.
0:19:25 > 0:19:29Um, there's very little wildlife, there's very little nature in that.
0:19:29 > 0:19:32You're really taking that ground for perpetuity.
0:19:32 > 0:19:35You're taking it out of use.
0:19:35 > 0:19:36What we've done is different.
0:19:36 > 0:19:38We opened our graveyard -
0:19:38 > 0:19:42the first thing we done was we sowed it out with a wildflower seed,
0:19:42 > 0:19:46we planted trees around the place, we made a few paths -
0:19:46 > 0:19:49just by cutting the paths out of the grass and the flowers.
0:19:49 > 0:19:52People are buried, we plant trees on the grave and the whole place
0:19:52 > 0:19:56sort of becomes a nature reserve, so the ground has a second use.
0:19:57 > 0:19:59A lot of the families that are using it love it.
0:20:03 > 0:20:06From the first day I went out with my father to do a funeral,
0:20:06 > 0:20:09I always felt very comfortable sort of talking to people
0:20:09 > 0:20:12about what was going on and helping them through it.
0:20:12 > 0:20:17I see this as maybe a wee bit of an extension on that.
0:20:17 > 0:20:20We get phone calls, we get... like, we had a lovely letter
0:20:20 > 0:20:24from a woman last week whose son was buried in one of our coffins.
0:20:24 > 0:20:26A friend of hers had said to her,
0:20:26 > 0:20:29"Nature never betrays the heart that loved her."
0:20:29 > 0:20:32And that had really sort of sat with her
0:20:32 > 0:20:34and she thought she'd share that with us.
0:20:34 > 0:20:37It makes coming to work in what a lot of people would see
0:20:37 > 0:20:41as a sort of gloomy industry a lot easier,
0:20:41 > 0:20:43if you know what I mean, and we enjoy it.
0:21:01 > 0:21:04TRADITIONAL MUSIC