Rembrandt – the ‘Prodigal Son’ returns to France
“The return of the prodigal son” is a renowned oil painting by the master artist, Rembrandt van Rijn. Drawing a unique parallel, the popular NCBC Irish Limousin AI bull, ‘Keltic Rembrandt’, a namesake of the famous painter has lived up to this cultural reference by having his semen successfully exported to the breed’s very home – France.
Bred by Teleri Thomas and Mac Murphy in their renowned pedigree herd in Enfield county Meath, this son of ‘Edakkya’ from the famed home bred cow (pictured above) ‘Keltic Jolediva’ by Ampertaine Foreman, has been hugely popular with both commercial farmers and pedigree breeders in Ireland. Born in 2020, he is a graduate of the NCBC Beef Breeding programme.
The Dairy and Beef genetics developed, sourced, and progeny tested by the National Cattle Breeding Centre (NCBC) are distributed in Ireland exclusively by Progressive Genetics and Munster Bovine. To expand access to these genetics internationally, Solnua was recently established to handle global marketing and distribution.
Sylvain Soulabail, Director of KBS France, noted the strong interest in Keltic Rembrandt among French breeders due to his exceptional quality. “We see him as a large, mixed beef-type bull—very wide and stylish,” Soulabail explained. “He is prominently featured on our website here and is expected to have a major positive impact on traits like calving ease, calving interval, and especially gestation length, which is a key focus for us.” KBS France is looking forward to assessing the development of his first French-born calves in 2026.
Rose Goulding (NCBC Beef Programme manager) ”He is the complete bull in that he is high in both Replacement & Terminal traits with super docility. He is the perfect bull for beef finishers being 5 stars for Carcass weight, Conformation and Age at Finish. Progeny are long and wide, with excellent tops, plates, legs and feet. ‘Rembrandt’ progeny stand out in pedigree herds. Notably, he contains no ‘Kaprico Eravelle’ breeding but yet he is an absolute trait leader for short gestation length. His latest ‘Replacement Index’ has increased from €164 to €181 and this would marry up with what how well his daughters are performing for Irish herdowners.
Pat Donnellan (Solnua Beef Export & Technical Support Manager) highlighted the international recognition: “The fact that the well-known French AI Company, KBS Genetics, has imported his semen for French pedigree breeders is a huge endorsement of both his breeding power and the success of our Limousin breeding programme in Ireland.”
KBS is strongly focusing its promotion on his proven ability to shorten gestation length. This trait is supported by an extremely reliable Irish proof of 99% (based on 1,084 extremely accurate records).
The bull’s gestation length figure of 1.33 days is a major genetic advantage, ranking him in the top 1% of the Limousin breed and significantly surpassing the Limousin breed average (3.6 days) and the all-beef-breed average (2.42 days).
At the Irish Limousin Society’s May 2025 Premier Show & Sale – ‘Keltic Rembrandt’ son ‘Rutland Unforgettable was sold for the highest price of €11,000, shown by Paul Fahy with breed Noel Ruttledge (Photo: Alfie Shaw)
Micheal Roche’s outstanding ‘Keltic Rembrandt’ heifer ‘Vision’ who was crowned Limousin Champion at the Kingdom County Show in June 2025
‘Creenagh Victoria’ who is sired by Keltic Rembrandt (LM8259) was the Reserve Champion and top priced heifer selling for €4,800 at the Irish Limousin Society December 2025 Sale at Roscommon Mart. She was bred by Pat Logan from Drumshanbo, Co. Leitrim.
