An Irish Adventure

by Kerry Rushby

During the warm UK summer, I had a very exciting trip to undertake. The opportunity to travel to the Emerald Isle otherwise known as Ireland to exhibit my dogs presented itself and I jumped at the chance. Let me tell you a bit about the ‘Munster Circuit’.

Before the founding of the Irish Kennel Club, all dog events in Ireland were held under license from the English Kennel Club. However, the Dublin Irish Blue Terrier Club – which included Michael Collins and Oliver St. John Gogarty among its members – broke with this system by holding the first breed show outside the English club’s jurisdiction on October 16, 1920. Attendees included figures from both sides of the independence divide including Captain Wyndham Quinn from the Vice Regal Lodge in the Phoenix Park, and the Under Secretary for Ireland, Sir James McMahon. They witnessed a show featuring dogs such as ‘Convict 224’ (Michael Collins’ dog), Trotsky, Munster Fusilier, and Markavich, presided over by judges Con O’Herlihy and Dan Nolan. From those colorful beginnings sprang the Wyndham Quinn Perpetual Cup, which is still awarded to this day, and the Michael Collins Perpetual Cup. More importantly, the event led to a further show featuring other breeds on Saint Patrick’s Day 1921 in the Concert Rooms of Dublin’s North Brunswick Street. That show’s success spurred the foundation of the Irish Kennel Club on January 20, 1922. The freedom fighters who drove the club’s foundation reached across the political divide once again, electing independence opponent and dog lover Justice Henry Hanna as the Chairman. Hanna, who retired in 1936 after sterling work to set the club on a solid foundation, was succeeded by Henry Fottrell, who held office until 1978. The Kennel Club’s current office, Fottrell House, is named in his honor. J.G. (Sonny) Plunkett held the chair until his death in 1987, followed by Bill O’Herlihy (son of Con O’Herlihy) and Tom Creamer. The title was changed to President in 1998 during Mr. Creamer’s tenure and Mr. S. Delmar currently fills the role. The present Secretary, Tony O’Neill, has several predecessors. Mr W. Cahill, Mr. H.B. Fottrell, Mr. L.G. Quirke, Miss M. Fox, Mr D.J. Smyth, and Mr R.E. Martin all served in this role as the club grew. Today, the Irish Kennel Club is a company limited by guarantee and based in Fottrell House at Harold’s Cross Bridge. It is governed by an elected General Purposes Committee, while many members are active in the club through several voluntary committees.

The name Munster is one of the Provinces of Ireland situated in the south. In ancient Ireland, it was one of the fifths ruled by a ‘King of over-Kings’. Following the Norman invasion of Ireland, the ancient kingdoms were shired into a number of countries for administrative and judicial purposes. In later centuries, local government legislation has seen further sub-division of the historic counties. In modern times, clusters of counties have been attributed to certain provinces but these clusters have no legal status. Geographically, Munster covers a total area of 24,675 km2 (9,527 sq miles) and has a population of 1,246,088 with the most populated city being Cork.

The Munster Circuit consists of a series of four All Breed Championship Shows, held every year in August, under Irish Kennel Club rules. Munster is the most southern of Ireland’s provinces consisting of counties: Clare, Cork, Kerry, Limerick, Tipperary and Waterford. The four shows in question of this trip are Clonmel, Killarney, Limerick and Tralee. There is a free day for rest in between each show for exhibitors to travel from each show to the next and prepare dogs and, of course, enjoy the beautiful scenery.

Traveling from the UK with a team of eleven people, and ten Leonbergers, the week ahead was certainly going to be an exciting one. Our trip started with a two hour drive to the ferry port of Holyhead, on the northern coastline of Wales. This port is the main ferry port from the UK to Dublin. On approach to the ferry port, we had to drive across the coastal road and pass through the famous Conwy Castle. Conwy Castle is a medieval fortification in the town of Conwy, Wales. It was built by Edward the 1st during his conquest of Wales between 1283 and 1289. The castle played an important part in several wars; the English Civil War was one of them. The crossing was ‘plain sailing’ and two hours later we arrived into Dublin which is the East coast of Ireland. The first show we attended was Navan, although Navan is not a show based on the Irish Munster Circuit, but a show that most people attend as it is not far from Dublin. Navan in Irish Gaelic language translates to ‘The Cave’. Navan is famed as the childhood home of the US actor, Pierce Brosnan.

The awards at this show are presented in the following format: each dog is graded as Excellent, Very Good, Good, Promising or Not Able to Judge. From each class, those who are awarded Excellents are asked to come back into the ring, and are then awarded 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th in the class. Each class winner will then challenge for the award of Green Star Dog or Bitch. In Ireland, their criteria requires a dog to have 7 Green Star titles to be awarded the title of Irish Champion. The numbers of the dogs are not as high as what is received at the shows in the UK. In Ireland you have a maximum of 3 to 4 dogs per class. The showground was extremely neat, flat and open. Exhibitors had gazebos, caravans, tents, chairs and tables located around the rings. Friends came to the show with food and drink and enjoyed the judging through the day as they ate and drank merrily. It was a very relaxed and fun environment. Once again a different vibe from the UK as it is always so chaotic to be ready for the classes and focus on what’s happening.

The next day was the first show of the circuit and from County Dublin we travelled 114 miles to Clonmel. Clonmel in Irish Gaelic translates to ‘Honey Meadow’. It is the largest town in the South Tipperary of the county. Although it is not confirmed where the Honey Meadow name came from, it is said that it refers to the fertility of soil and richness of country in which it is situated.

The Siege of Clonmel took place in April – May 1650 during the Cromwellian conquest of Ireland when the town of Clonmel was besieged by Oliver Cromwell’s New Model Army. Cromwell’s 8,000 men eventually took the town from its 2,000 Irish defenders, but not before they suffered losses of around 2,000 soldiers.

Back to the show; the showground was held just opposite the very famous Cider drink factory, Bulmers. Not a good view when you are thirsty and see what’s across the street but cannot get a taste. But knowing that I would be tasting a pint of Guinness a little later on, I was able to manage. The weather was horrific with rain, wind and constant showers. Sadly we are very spoiled in the UK with the shows as no matter what kind of weather we get, we always have wet weather rings and can be sheltered from the rain. In Ireland, this is not the case. If it rains, you get wet. Carrying dogs, people and a week’s long set of clothing and dog tools, the thought of taking a gazebo, or tent in some form was just not in our minds at all. How embarrasing for us that our dogs were presented under the judge with wet coats and not so great presentation from ourselves as by this point we were muddy, wet and truly fed-up and more so, embarrassed.

Judging began in all rings at 10 am and our breed was not scheduled until mid-afternoon, so more hours in the rain and the more soaked we became. The results were okay but not so rewarding by this point. Best in Show was awarded to the Beagle, Ch. Heathergrove Persian Warrior. athe Best in Show judge was Seamus Oates, who is from Ireland. We all packed up and then drove to our holiday cottage in Dingle on the West Coast of Ireland, a mere 200 mile drive. Throughout Ireland we found that there were not many motorways, mainly country roads, so travelling with speed was not going to happen during our travels. After our long and slow journey across Ireland to Dingle, we arrived after dinner.

Dingle was one of Ireland’s main trading ports, exporting fish and hides and importing wines from the continent of Europe. French and Spanish fishing fleets used the town as a base as it sits on the Atlantic coast and is the farthest west point throughout Ireland that is actually located on the map. A beautiful fishing town, the main street, John Street, sports an array of different looking buildings in nearly all of the colors you can think –?red, blue, yellow, brown, green, black, white, purple, and orange. Very eye catching, cosy, cute but breathtaking all the same. The Irish accent feels warm friendly and the locals certainly invite you to admire their town as they are proud of what they have.

It was not long before we were on the road again for the next circuit show and this day we traveled from Dingle to Killarney, which was an easy 70 mile drive. Killarney translated from Irish Gaelic means ‘Church of Sloes’. It is home to St. Mary’s Cathedral, Ross Castle, and the Lakes of Killarney. It is a beautiful tourist area with plenty to see and do.

On arrival to the show, we were waved into the show grounds to park and, unbelievably, we were the only VW Transporter van to ‘get stuck in mud’. We were unable to move. A few members of our group jumped out of their vans after parking up and came over to help us be pushed out of the ever growing sinking mud wells we were sitting in. Sadly our friend Louise pushed the back of the van to push us out, lost her grip and slipped. This resulted in a week long pain on her ankle and when returning to the UK, she was told she had a broken foot. It was not the best start for this show. Once the tractor came over and moved us, we rushed into the show to see the schedule and it was panic stations. Because of the time wasted on waiting for the van to be moved, we were rushed. The breeds before ours were quickly judged and our breed was then in. All of us were wet with muddy dogs. We were half asleep and not given much warning before being told, stand, teeth, move and wait… We had had enough. As we all wanted to go home and rest, it would be sods law that one of our gang won the breed and so we all had to wait and support her in the group judging. Late afternoon and a shortlist in the group and we were finished for the show. Best in Show was awarded to the Boxer, Ch. Walkend Boy at Bessbox, judged by John Bond who is one of Ireland’s most wonderful men and a long-term Rottweiler fancier.

It was great to have a day off and spend time with the dogs on the beach. Both had never been into the sea before so this was going to be entertaining. As Leo’s are born with webbed feet and their background falling back onto Newfoundlands, the breed loves water. So, they should love to swim and they flood your home with water. I couldn’t believe my eyes when my dogs were released on the beach and headed straight to the sea. They had so much fun, diving under the waves, picking up seaweed, running and chasing each other across the beach, watching the water move in and out and seriously misbehaving when it came to commanding them to come back to me. But hey, they deserved the fun and the chance to run around. They, too, were on holiday, of course! Back to the holiday home to blast out the sand and saltwater and make them all pretty again before dinner where wine consumption was scheduled for the evening.

Our next show was a 150 mile trip to Limerick from Dingle. The city is built on several curves and islands of the River Shannon and is home to St. John’s Cathedral, and King John’s Castle. The show was great, and the weather a tad better; still raining but spirits were still high. People were laughing and joking, singing in the rain and having a great time. There was more of an international panel for this show and Best in Show was judged by Claudio DeGiuliani from Italy. He chose the Papillon, Ir GB, German, Slovakian and Int. Ch Denemore Iconsruben as his overall winner.

The last show to attend was Tralee. This town is based on a very ancient roadway, and nearby is a place called Scotia’s Grave. This is the burial place of an Egyptian Pharaoh’s daughter. The showground was an awkward setup. Set on farmland with cattle sheds, milk stations and feeding bays, it was difficult to walk through the gritty road, that was wet and muddy, to then reach the lovely, boggy racing track where the rings were situated. The heavens opened, it was cold, the dogs were tired and the owners were stressed. Everyone was thankful for it to be the last show of the circuit and the thought of going home was too much to look forward to for many. We found that you were competing with the same dogs you traveled with, but shared the wins between you during the week. Of our team at this show it was the only show in which none of us won the breed at the show and the applause and cheer that went out when someone else out of our party won was very obvious. We were so happy to get out of the rain and mud, get in our vans and head home. It was extremely nice to see that an Irish Breed won Best in Show at Tralee to finish off the Munster Circuit 2012 show week. Mrs. Joan Walsh judged Best in Show and awarded the top honor to the Irish Wolfhound, Ch. Broughadowey Tir Eoghain.

Had the weather been better this week, it would have been much more enjoyable for us all. Had I thought out of the box and realized that not many other countries are as fortunate as us in the UK for what we are provided with at the shows in terms of shelter, and inside rings under tents, then I would have considered taking a gazebo or tent and made sure that I would travel to each show and stay at a different hotel each day instead of traveling miles from one home to each show as the miles clocked up and our bank balances were reaching zero due to the high price of diesel.

Each society was warm in welcoming us Brits. There were many other exhibits from Europe at the show and some have even made a holiday of it and traveled from as far as Australia to Ireland.

If you are a lover of dog shows, castles, beaches, cathedrals, lakes and mountains, then Ireland is well worth traveling to for a week long break. Just remember to pack a hat in your case and have enough money to enjoy a good pint of the Irish stuff which is the highlight of any trip to Ireland; the Guinness, and by god we needed it after the week we endured!

Thank you to the Irish Kennel Club and Our Dogs Ireland for the information and photos.

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Posted by admin on Dec 27 2012. Filed under Current Articles, Featured. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. Both comments and pings are currently closed.