In 1991 a questionnaire was distributed to regional gun clubs by the National Association of Regional Game Councils (NARGC). Any information relating to sightings of grey partridges in their localities was sought. Of 26 counties surveyed, 7 counties were identified where wild birds definitely still existed. In Galway farming was grassland dominant, while tillage was important in Tipperary, Wicklow and Wexford.
In Kildare, Offaly and Louth farming was mixed in a landscape containing large areas of cutaway and intact bogland. Seven other counties had release programmes with hand-reared stock. Three main populations were identified. One population in Co. Wexford was composed of mixed stocks of wild and released birds, while two populations in the Irish midlands were deemed to have completely wild stocks. These latter birds were found in areas containing cutaway bogland at Boora, Co. Offaly and Lullymore, Co. Kildare.
Today 13 years after this last survey only one population of wild grey partridge remains in Ireland. This is in Boora Co. Offaly and is the subject of this Irish Grey Partridge Conservation Project.
