How the baron of Dunsany carried out an ambitious rewilding project in Meath Randal Plunkett turned from a self-confessed steak-lover to a pioneering eco-advocate
Sat, Dec 26, 2020, 01:04 Louise Walsh
Randal Plunkett, the 21st baron of Dunsany, is a film director and holder of one of the oldest surviving Irish peerage titles. Photograph: Barry Cronin
Like his ancestors, Randal Plunkett was once able to look from the windows of Dunsany Castle, between Trim and Dunshaughlin, Co Meath, onto herds of cattle and sheep that filled many of the estate’s 1,600 acres.
Today, the cattle and sheep are gone: “When I became a vegan, I couldn’t really continue to have livestock here, could I?” the 21st baron of Dunsany, from a line tied by blood linked to St Oliver Plunkett, reflected.