The first occurrence of Schmallenberg virus (SBV) infection in Ireland is reported. Evidence of SBV infection has been found in 6 cattle herds in Ireland. The viral genome has been detected using a qRT-PCR test in 5 fetuses sent for postmortem examination from 4 dairy herds in County Cork. Two of these herds have also been tested and found to be positive for SBV nucleoprotein-specific antibodies using an indirect ELISA (ID-Vet). Subsequently, specific antibodies have also been detected in a further dairy herd in County Cork and a beef suckler herd in County Wexford. In the 4 herds that have been tested for SBV-specific antibodies, 100% of the samples have been found positive, which is consistent with the widespread SBV infection within infected herds. Clinical signs in these cases have been limited to near-term abortions, mummified fetuses and 2 cases of brachygnathia inferior with no reports of arthrogryposis or hydranencephaly. Surveillance testing using qRT-PCR has been ongoing in the regional veterinary laboratories since February 2012. A total of 120 samples of brain and fetal fluids from 103 cases of congenital abnormalities from cattle (n=96), sheep (n=20), goats (n=two) and exotic species (n=2) have been tested with negative results before the first detection of SBV.