cork drag hunting . a sport for hard men & hard dogs

No fairies here.

Fair play to Connie Doyle and The Armoured Car. None of your garrison games here, proper fucking Cork tradition, out hunting with the dogs, and then back for a feed of Beamish, tripe and drisheen, and a cows head for the pack.

It is said that if you

take a stroll on any

piece of open land

on the Northside of

Cork City in the

early morning or

evening you will

see someone walking

a hound. This

area supports a proud harrier tradition which appears to have

originated as a response of the poorer people to the more

"glamourous" mounted hunts associated with the landed

gentry from the 17th. Century onwards. The dogs are used

for chasing foxes and hares in winter and for summer draghunts.

E n g l i s h b r e e d s

(particularly from

Cumbria) are increasingly

used in the drag

because they are faster:

"English dogs and Irish

dogs...there's no comparison.

English dogs

just run away from

t h e m , y o u

know." (Michael John

Buckley, Clogheen

Harrier Club). But the

reputation of the Irish

dogs remains high. The

Kerry Beagle is a fine

beast that stands over

twenty inches at the

shoulder. Said to be

descended from animals that swam ashore from a wrecked

ship of the Spanish Armada in 1588, the first record of a

pack dates from 1798, Scarteen, Co. Kerry.

Drag-hunts are the culmination of much hard work on the

part of the clubs involved. Dogs are exercised, trained and

dieted for weeks. The course is surveyed, permission sought

from landowners where necessary. The area is walked afterwards

and inspected to ensure that everything is in place and

any damage rectified. On the big day an artificial scent is

laid by runners. A typical course is 6 to 12 miles long, with

the first animal over the line the winner. Traditionally the

finish was a tense, silent affair, with the animals racing towards

a boundary that consisted of a ditch. In the last year

this has been replaced by a simple finish-line and the occasion

is now festive with crowds of onlookers whooping and

shouting as the dogs approach. Family groups and friends

enjoy themselves on these days, with women playing an important

role throughout.

The first drag was probably held at the beginning of the 20th.

Century. A whole mythology has grown up around the

hounds and their exploits. The sound of harriers baying is

known as "music". A famous dog which ran drags from

1921 to 1926 was Ringwood, better known as "The Armoured

Car". This celebrated animal had immense stamina,

great pace, a mellow

"tongue" and was bred

by Connie Doyle, of the

Northern Harriers,

Fairhill:

"When outshone the

evening star

Who was running

out in front

And he leading

the hunt?

It was Doyle's

Armoured Car!"

Fox hunting is as strong

as ever and there is no

doubt that the drag will

continue to be popular,

with a number of wellsupported

clubs north of the River Lee. The Kerry Pike Ha rrier

Club (established 1823) is one of the oldest in the country.

The very active Fairhill Harrier Club was founded in

1893. The Northern Hunt meets once a month in Johnnie's

Bar, Wolfe Tone Street. Northern United was inaugurated in

1924. Beamish and Crawford began sponsoring the All-

Ireland Drag in 1928. United later won it three years in succession,

securing ownership of a fine silver trophy. Sponsorship

of the All-Ireland has shifted to Murphy's Brewery,

while Guinness support another prestige event, the International

Draghunt.