Marley and Magic were among the stars of the 36th Tubbercurry Old Fair Day Festival in Co Sligo on Wednesday, August 9th, 2023.
The rare twin donkeys were born on the farm of Brian Finneran in Co Sligo on Tuesday, July 12th, 2022, to their dam, Monty (now 18 years of age), and sire, Major.
According to reports, the birth of twin donkeys only occurs in 1.5% of donkey births with a survival rate of a mere 10%.
He explained, in a previous interview on Ocean FM:
“On Tuesday, July 12th, 2022, at 7:30am, the two foals were born. The first foal was coming okay, and a friend and work colleague was with me.”
“He has more experience with horses and that, than me, we handled her and saw there was a second foal coming, so we rang for advice and were told to pull the foal.”
“So, we did that, and landed the second one on the ground,” he told listeners of Ocean FM.
Monty
Finneran had acquired Monty just two years before the miracle birth and said that he has “always had a soft spot for donkeys”.
“So, I just wanted to get one to start off, so we got Monty, and her feet were in bad condition, so a farrier got to work on her and got her back in order.”
“She then had different problems with her skin and hair, so we got veterinary advice and started bit by bit and got her back to recovery.”
“When Monty first came, she was very shy and would not come near me or anyone; instead, she would go to the furthest part of the field. But, today, she will run up to me.”
“I think, on average, donkeys, live, between 25-30 years, so hopefully, she has a good few years left in her yet.”
“Donkeys are a nice, friendly animal and in times gone by, they were the workhorse, but they would not be in too many fields around the north-west of Ireland or even around anywhere in Ireland, they would be few and far between.”
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