Senior All Ireland 2008

Senior All-Ireland 2008
Sunday, 28th of September o8
Ballinagree, Macroom, Co Cork

Well the moment of truth arrived yesterday at 4pm to determine who is the Senior All-Ireland Champion. It was perfect weather, which attracted a very large crowd to witness the senior event of 2008. Once again people travelled from Cork City, County and Kerry to compete in the biggest trail of the season with a start of 78 hounds, all trying to do their best for their trainers. I reckon every trainer who lined up their hounds yesterday secretly would be thinking the same thoughts................... Imagine if I won the Senior All-Ireland.

It was an absolute credit to all associations involved in the build up and effort put into this drag to make it the day that it was.............. a complete and utter success from start, to roads in between and the finish................

Above; trainers awaiting their hounds to show on the finish....

Reports from the road were slightly varied but never without the mention of championship winner, John O Callaghans' 'Is It It' of Douglas, who led a few roads, along with Gary O Sullivans 'Black and Tan' who led the main divide. 'Kilmoy Boy' , pup, of ICDA was 2nd on the second last road.

So as everyone hurried back from the roads to finish their hounds and view the finish, we waited excitedly to see of all the different reports, which hound would come head first over the finishing line. The wait was over when a few fields out they showed. At three fields out, it was John O Callaghans 'Is It It' of Douglas who jumped over the cobbled wall running on the home stretch with a 2/3 length lead on the following hound 'Black and Tan'. The call went up and I could see them running downhill, where 'Black and Tan' was stretching and surely trying to catch 'Is It It', then at the end of this field 'Black and Tan' caught him, but we weren't too sure because now these two had to battle up a blind dip and we wouldn't see anymore until they would eventually show approx 3 lengths before the line........................................... Oh lads the tension was unbearable.

Pictured below; Father and Son duo, Gary & Adam O Sullivan with 2008 Senior All-Ireland Winner 'Black and Tan' of Northern Hunt

So I was standing with my 'state of the art camera' on standby waiting to start recording as soon as they appeared. At the finish I was standing left of the crowd, and for me at this angle 'Is It It' of Douglas showed first on the left, but when 'Black and Tan' showed on the right she was closer to the line................... I couldn't believe how she managed to bridge a gap of a length between the pair uphill............. It was an outstanding finish. So this years Senior All Ireland honours went well deservingly to the very consistent and talented 'Black and Tan' which left her owners, Father and Son, Gary & Adam O Sullivan, totally thrilled and bouncing around like they were dancing in a 'cheile'. John and Christine O Callaghans 'Is It It' took the 2nd ticket which was very close. Denise and Leslie Kepples 'Magics Choice' stormed over the line next to take the 3rd ticket for Mayfield, whilst 'Nemo' of the Kerry Association took 4th ticket.

Above: Video Clip of the Finish.............

Well done and congratulations to all !!!!!!!!!!!!!

Still Smiling..... Above John, Christine and sons with Senior Runner Up 'Is It It'

Trying to get through the crowd for the announcement of placed hounds was unreal, above picture of nearest hound left 'Nemo', then 'Bird' both of Kerry, then back 'Westgate Storm' and winner 'Black and Tan'(obviously the name describes her !!!)

RESULTS:

1st: 'Black and Tan', Northern Hunt

2nd: 'Is It It', Douglas

3rd: 'Magics Choice', Mayfield

4th: 'Nemo', Kerry Beagle Association

5th: 'Westgate Storm', Mayfield

6th: 'Bird', Kerry Beagle Association

78 ran, Time: 42 mins

The end of the season supper dance and presentation of the overall winners of the year is on this Friday Night at St Vincents Hurling and Football Club. More photos and gossip on this next Monday........

Hound Trailing History

Hound Trailing In Hound Trailing, an artificial scent is laid out over a course. Hounds are released in divided groups, Senior A, Senior Maidans, Puppy A & Puppy Maidans, and the winner is the first hound to complete the course. There are also place tickets for the first 6, and points accumulated from each drag for first 6 dogs to cross the line. Betting is an integral aspect of the activity. Hound Trailing involves mainly harrier hunt club packs and the season runs from March to September with meets being held at the weekends. Hounds used are either the Kerry Beagle, the Northern Irish Hound (used only for drag hunting) or the English Hound. Main Areas Armagh, Clare, Cork, Kerry Notes: The Northern Irish Hound is used only for drag hunting. Packs who hunt live quarry during the winter months get involved in Hound Trailing as a means of keeping the hounds fit during the summer months. There are a number of county organisations that regulate the activity of hound trailing. Competitions are held by these organisations on a county level. This gives the activity a public profile with sponsorship involvement from the commercial sector. Hound Trailing History Hound trailing started in the remote countryside of Co. Kerry. During the winter, people hunted the hare on foot over mountain and bogs. During the summer they raced their hounds over the countryside following a runner towing a lump of horsemeat. It was a very localised affair and as communications improved it began to spread to neighbouring counties. This lead to new breeds of dogs being used. Up to then the Kerry Beagle was the only dog breed used. The faster breeds like the Northern Irish Hound and the English Trail Hound soon outclassed the Kerry Beagle. From this, two separate hound activities/"sports" emerged: Live hunting with the Kerry Beagle. Trail hunting with the Northern Irish and English hounds. The use of horsemeat to set the trail came to an end when farmers objected to this practice. In its place aniseed was used. Its usage was another reason why two hound sports came into being, as aniseed will affect the hunting ability of a hound who is used to hunting live quarry. Source: History of the Scarteen Hunt Co. Limerick Pages 30/31 (pub: 1989)Irish Drag Hunting Organisations 1998-1999 There is no overall national organisation for Draghunting in Ireland. There are a number of county organisations who regulate and control the activity based around affiliated packs in their own county. In respect of two Northern Ireland based packs hunting with bloodhounds they are affiliated to the Masters of Bloodhounds Association who regulate the sport of draghunting with bloodhounds on the British mainland.TITLE ACTIVITYThe Cork City & County Harriers Association (Cork) Hound Trailing/HuntingThe Irish Trail Hounds Association (Cork) Hound TrailingThe East Cork Harriers Association (Cork) Hound TrailingThe Kerry Beagles Association (Kerry) Hound TrailingThe Clare Harriers Association (Clare) Hound Trailing Northern Counties Drag Hunt Association (Cavan) Hound Trailing

John O Callaghan Memorial

John O Callaghan Memorial Senior Draghunt

Sunday, 21st of September 08

Bartlemy , Watergrasshill, Cork

Above: Senior Line Up

Video Clip of John O Callaghan Memorial Senior Slip

It was an all in drag of seniors and maidens for this event which took place in Bartlemy, the same course, 10mins after the Puppy All Ireland. Almost 40 hounds competed in this open event and was a truely great finish.

Right: Carmel O Brien reporting for this site !!!

Denise Kepples 'Magics Choice' of Mayfield showed 5th jumping over the last ditch, but turned this around dramatically once the call went up. He came at an almighty pace to pass 4 hounds to push him out in front. He battled hard to fight off club mate 'Westgate Storm', also of Mayfield, and did so on the line to win first prize with 2 lengths to spare on 'Westgate Storm', who had to settle for 2nd. John O Callaghans winner of the senior table 'Is It It' finished a close 3rd for Douglas.

Above: Husband and Wife: Leslie and Denise Kepple with 'Magics Choice' and 'Stracken'

Results:

1st: 'Magics Choice', Mayfield

2nd: 'Westgate Storm', Mayfield

3rd: 'Is It It', Douglas

4th: 'Shadow Fax', Douglas

5th: 'Black and Tan'Northern United

6th: Newtown Raven', Griffin United

Time: 32mins

Above Video Clip of Senior Finish

Puppy All-Ireland Drag Hunt 2008

Puppy All Ireland

Sunday, 21st of September 08 @ 4pm

Bartlemy, Watergrasshill, Cork

Below: All Ireland Puppy Line Up

The long awaited puppy event of this season came upon us yesterday at Bartlemy where trainers travelled from Cork City, County and Kerry to line up their hopeful hounds and be in with a chance of winning the most honourable Irish event of the season. I think there's always a fond following of the puppy drags as this is their first season of drag hunting, some of these hounds would still be quite young and others causing their owners to deal with an awful lot of patience, from turning back to being distracted and going off course to following birds and God knows what else they got up to !!!!!!!!!!! yet these gifted flying machines are just only ordinary pups.........

Below: Video Clip of Puppy Start:

So how proud were these trainers yesterday setting off their pups to a 30minute fast paced cross country course. Well all 47 pups set off, 3 returning, to a good fast start. We all could see them from start for a few fields and they really were motoring. Various reports from the roads were that 'Randy' of the ICDA led one road, whilst other reports were very varied from them travelling at a very fast pace to 'strolling' around the course. So on to the most important part of any race..... the finish.

Above: Video Clip of puppy finish

Once again a battle of the bravest and talented to the finishing line. A group of hounds showed and the call went up. It was nearly a two in a row this year for Frankie Allen. His hound 'Tallyman' put all his strength trying to finish 1st but ICDA's 'Travel West' just had that bit more on the line to make 'Travel West' the All-Ireland Puppy Winner of 2008. So 'Tallyman' settled for an honourable 2nd whilst the same winning trainer took the 3rd ticket with 'Travel Mist' of ICDA.

RESULTS:

1st: 'Travel West', ICDA

2nd: 'Tallyman', Northern United

3rd: 'Travel Mist' ICDA

4th: 'Mossgrove Star', ICDA

5th: 'Ferry Boy', Vincent Murphy, KBA

6th: 'Randy', ICDA

47Ran, Time: 34mins 25secs

Frankie Allen with Puppy All Ireland Runner up 'Tallyman'

Michael Heffernan Memorial Puppy Drag

Yellow Loch, Ballinahina, Cork
Wednesday, 10/09/08

Puppy Results:
1st: Torres, Mayfield
2nd: 'Tallyman', Northern United
3rd: 'Laddie', Douglas
4th: 'Shane', Griffin United
5th: 'Stracken', Mayfield
6th: 'Joker', Northern United
18 mins

Douglas Drag Hunt 07/09/08

Douglas Drag Hunt
Douglas, Cork

Senior Drag:

The senior hounds were slipped to a fast paced course as 18 hopeful hounds lined up rearing to go...................... and they did at 4pm. It was a great course from start to finish for people who had their binoculars in hand. We could see them climbing up hill after a few minutes and then again we had a great view of the action in full swing from the road opposite the start / finish more than half way around the course. From here we walked just 50 yards to the finish at our ease............... Once inside the the finishing field we had only one field to call once the dogs showed. Bernie Ralls 'Pats Pick' of Mayfield sprinted to the call to finish a comfortable 1st leaving a 10 length gap between himself and Jennifer Kenneallys 'Belrose Jack' of Southern Harriers, whom also finished a very impressive 2nd place as you'll see from the video clip below. Next came John Buckleys 'Newtown Raven' of Griffin United to take 3rd place.

Bernie Rall with his senior pride and joy 'Pats Pick'

Senior Finish above (Johnny Murtagh all the way, was that double bubble Bernie !!!)

Senior Results:

1st 'Pats Pick', Mayfield

2nd: 'Belrose Jack', Southern Harriers

3rd: 'Newtown Raven', Griffin United

4th: 'Black and Tan', Northern Hunt

5th: 'Harold Scott', Northern United

6th: 'Toffee Woman', Griffin United

18 Ran, 30 mins

Senior Maiden Results:

1st Bobbys Choice, Clogheen

2nd: 'Lansdale Dazzler', Southern Harriers

3rd: 'Nemo', Griffin United

4th: 'John T', Griffin United

5th: 'Flintoff', Mayfield

6th: 'McGuigan', Clogheen

18 Ran, Time 29mins, 45secs

Puppy Results:

1st 'Torres' ,Mayfield

2nd: 'Joker', Northern United

3rd: 'Tallyman', Northern United

4th: 'Curaheen Drive', Southern Harriers

5th: 'Shane', Griffin United

6th: 'Hannahs Boy', Mayfield