10 cattle have been killed on a farm in Cavan following lightning which struck parts of the county on Friday evening, June 6.

Agriland understands the incident occurred yesterday evening in the region of Butlersbridge, Co. Cavan.

The 10 continental suckler-bred heifers owned by a farmer from the area had taken shelter from the heavy rain under a tree in the middle of the field when a bolt of lightning struck the earth, killing the 10 heifers instantly.

Farmers in the surrounding area told Agriland the lightning - which lasted for less than an hour - "was clearly very close by" as the thunder was occurring "almost instantly" after the lightning.

While lightning storms are not uncommon at this time of year, livestock losses are rare as a result of lightning but not unheard of across the country.

The aftermath of the freak incident was captured on a photo which has been widely circulated on social media.

The graphic image, seen by Agriland, shows the 10 heifers lying around the tree and slightly out from the tree in a line, lying directly where they were standing when the lightning struck.

The tragic event is a significant loss for the farmer affected but thankfully, no people were killed in the incident.

The freak event serves as a stark reminder of the dangers of lightning and a local source told Agriland "had a farmer or anyone else been standing under the tree when the lightning struck, they would have almost certainly also been killed instantly".

According to Met Éireann, the majority of lightning occurs in the storm cloud itself or between clouds. On average approximately 10-20% of all lightning over Ireland is cloud-to-ground strikes.

Last August, Agriland reported on an incident where a number of cattle, sheep, and horses were killed when lightning struck a high voltage line in a field near Gort in Co. Galway.

 Fianna Fáil councillor in Galway County Council, Gerry Finnerty told Agriland at the time that there were seven cattle, several sheep, and three horses across two farms that were killed as a result.

The councillor in the Gort-Kinvara area said: “The pylon fire could be seen from miles around.

In a statement to Agriland when this incident occurred last year, the ESB stated: “The overnight lightning strikes that occurred on Sunday into Monday led to damage on the high voltage line between Cashla and Prospect and on pole mounted transformers on the medium voltage network in Galway which led to a series of fuses being blown.

“Unfortunately, a number of livestock that were in close proximity to the high voltage line in the Gort area were found deceased on Monday morning.

“ESB Networks are actively engaging with the landowners involved and are continuing to investigate,” the statement added.