The Irish Terrier

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84 – September, 2021

By Amy Fernandez

 We’re all familiar with the risks and complications that inevitably occur when a breed is commandeered by celebrity endorsements. It’s treacherous territory–end of story. (Of course not.) That gigantic, multifaceted danger zone is just one side of the deal. Because, once in a while that little shove into the limelight literally becomes a breed’s lifeline. So, let’s talk Irish Terriers.

These days, the breed hovers somewhat in the middle of the pack, not unknown, but also definitely not mainstream in terms of AKC rankings. In its homeland it was officially categorized as a vulnerable breed for years, finally moving up a notch to the Kennel Club’s “at watch” list, which is marginally better but not great. Perhaps those numbers don’t sound especially encouraging but I can assure you that the current situation could have been way worse…like gone for good.

The Irish Terrier enjoyed its heyday for sure. Myriad accounts have described the breed’s emergence into the show world. Here’s the fascinating thing about them. Despite voluminous documentation regarding the dates, names and places …it’s hard to state empirically that those dogs were, in fact, genuine Irish Terriers. Reviewing the situation with the benefit of 60+ years of hindsight, Hutchinson’s offered a truly entertaining recap of the breed’s inauspicious debut.

“Irish Terrier history may be said to have started in or about 1870.” He sketched out the editorial fanfare that heralded “claims that the most ancient breed of Terrier had come to light, whose history could be traced without any doubt whatsoever back to the very start of Time.” That was more than enough to lure interest. “The breeders of Irish Terriers said that they were the most ancient, outrivaling all other breeds in that respect.” This naturally led to inevitable accusations of overblown hype and complete nonsense. “Therefore it was with interest that all skeptics, of which there were a great number, waited to see the first show of this extremely ancient and pristine pure breed that was to be staged in Dublin.”

Click here to read the complete article
84 – September, 2021

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Posted by AnthonyA on Sep 9 2021. 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.