The racing of horses in Ireland is as old as the nation itself. In the pre-Christian era we have evidence that the Red Branch Knights raced among themselves, matching their horses against each other, as did the Fianna warriors in the third century A.D. Racing today is huge in the country for our employment and for our economy. Racing in the early days struggled without a governing body and without a proper structure. This all seemed to change once the Jockey Club was formed on the idea of the English Jockey in Newmarket. However, the Jockey failed as money issues and other problems led to its demise. This essay aims to examine firstly the impact of the English Jockey Club in Ireland, secondly why the Jockey Club failed, and third the rise of the Turf Club and the procedures taken to make it a success.
The year 1750 is generally accepted as the date on which the English Jockey Club came in to existence in England. At the beginning it was on the lines of a social club where aristocrat owners could exchange opinions about the sport and its conduct. This was in place of a governing body exercising and enforcing overall. As far as 1757 there are still records of disputes being passed from Ireland to Newmarket. However on this point it must be noted that well in to The Turf Club’s establishment they were requesting the help of the Jockey Club on certain occasions. The men that founded the Jockey Club were some of the most influential people in the England at the time. Initially they met in London at the Star and Garter in Pall Mall. They then further went on to meet on St. James’ Street and Hyde Park before the club soon relocated to Newmarket, famously at the Star and Garter pub.
The first written reference to The Jockey Club c...
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...Ireland has more racetracks per head of population than anywhere in the world, and a lot of this can be owed the formation of our Turf Club when it was much needed to bring improvement and advertisement to the sport as we know it today.
Bibliography
Primary Sources
Dublin Gazette 2nd September 1732
Universal Advertiser April 14th 1759
Published articles for a race meeting at Parsonstown 10 June 1718
Secondary Sources
D’Arcy, Fergus. Horses, Lords & Racing Men- The Turf Club 1790-1990, Kildare, 1991
Galtery, Sidney. Memoirs of a racing journalist, London, 1934
Kelly, James and Martyn J. Powell , Clubs and Societies in Eighteenth-Century Ireland, Dublin, 2010
MacLysaght, Edward. Irish Life in the Seventeenth Century, Dublin ,1979
Sharkey, Pat. The Racing Calendar, Dublin, 1790
Welcome, John. Irish Horse Racing: an illustrated history, London, 1982
On a Wednesday afternoon March 20, 1935, Major Louie A. Beard addressed a mass meeting of breeders and others interested in the future of racing in Lexington. Beard outlined the plans for the purchase and development of Keeneland at the Lafayette Hotel. “This may seem like a dream, but I believe it is a dream that can be realized.”, Beard concluded. This statement was a truer prophet than most of those present realized.
Included within the anthology The Penguin Book of Irish Fiction,1[1] are the works of great Irish authors written from around three hundred years ago, until as recently as the last decade. Since one might expect to find in an anthology such as this only expressions and interpretations of Irish or European places, events or peoples, some included material could be quite surprising in its contrasting content. One such inclusion comes from the novel Black Robe,2[2] by Irish-born author Brian Moore. Leaving Ireland as a young man afforded Moore a chance to see a great deal of the world and in reflection afforded him a great diversity of setting and theme in his writings. And while his Black Robe may express little of Ireland itself, it expresses much of Moore in his exploration into evolving concepts of morality, faith, righteousness and the ever-changing human heart.
Cahill, Edward to De Valera 22 March 1932. Edward Cahill papers, Jesuit Archives, 35 Lower Leeson Street, Dublin 2
O'Connor, Thomas H. The Boston Irish: A Political History. Boston, MA. Northeastern University Press, 1995.
precautions taken before each race. The horses and the drivers were both checked to ensure
Have you ever been to a horse race? Seeing the riders give their horses a pat and an apple after the race, people cheering for their horse as it runs rapidly to the finish line? Seems like a great time. But what happens to those horses after they are done their race. What happens to the people who gambled their family’s lives savings. All horse racing should be shut down due to the well being of the horses, the effects of gambling, and the lack of interest.
Tithe Applotment Books for Northern Ireland, ca. 1822—1937. Ireland: Land Commission. Parish of Dromore, Tyrone. FHL microfilm 258456.
With the Southern Ohio Fair Association taking over the fairgrounds in 1874, the grounds were divided up into nine departments: Horses, Cattle, Sheep, Agricultural, Mechanics, Textile, Farm, Speed, and Grounds. When hearing this information, one would look at the fairgrounds present day and be a little confused. Back in the 1800’s the way to have fun was to race, sell, and buy horses. “The Southern Ohio Fair Association built the Exhibition Hall and a Machinery Hall. The track was enlarged and other improvements were made” (Drury 808). The Exhibition Hall became the focal point of the fairgrounds, and still is today.
Irish American Magazine, Aug.-Sept. 2009. Web. The Web. The Web. 06 May 2014.
Thoroughbred Horse Racing Jockeys and Workers: Examining On-Track Injury Insurance and Other Health and Welfare Issues : Hearing Before the Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations of the Committee on Energy and Commerce, House of Representatives, One Hundred Ninth Congress, First Session, October 18, 2005. Washington: U.S. G.P.O, 2005. Print.
On the 14th of September in the year 1607 the Earl of Tyrone Hugh O’Neill and the Earl of Tyrconnel Rory O’Donnell fled Ireland alongside officials, their families and numerous Gaelic chieftains. They left Ireland from Rathmullen in County Donegal. This flee was to become known as the flight of the Earls. They arrived in the Spanish Netherlands and then eventually made their way to Rome. The Flight of the Earls led to the most drastic form of the British government’s policy of plantation in Ireland. The Flight of the Earls has remained as one of the most memorable events in the history of Ireland. But what exactly were the reasons for the Flight of the Earls? The causes have been debated by historians with different interpretations as to why they fled but it is clear that the influence of the Earls in Ireland have been diminished greatly in the years prior to the Flight of the Earls. This essay seeks to clarify the reasons for the decline in power of the Earls in Ireland through exploration of the solidification of British rule in Ireland, along with key events in the years prior to the Flight of the Earls such as Hugh O’Neill’s campaign and onto the nine years war and the Battle of Kinsale and the Treaty of Mellifont after the Battle of Kinsale.
To undertake a full thematic investigation of this period would be very much beyond the scope of this paper. Thus, the essay will embark on a high level chronological interpretation of some of the defining events and protagonists, which influenced the early modernization of Ireland during the period 1534-1750. The main focus of the paper will concentrating on the impact and supervision of the Tudor dynasty. Firstly, the essay will endeavour to gain an understanding as to what contemporary historians accept as being the concept of modernization during this time period. The paper will then continue by examine the incumbent societal and political structure of Ireland prior to the Tudor conquests. This will have the impact of highlight the modernising effects produced by the subsequent attempts by the Tudors to consolidate and centralise power in the hands of the State. Once more, due to the vast nature of the time period, not every modernizing effect can be examined. Therefore, the paper will concentrate on the modernization of the political landscape, land ownership and the impact this had on the geographic construct of the island.
... of stories Dubliners, James Joyce leads the reader to the conclusion that the Catholic Church took the role of a governing body, and that modernist movement was inhibited by the outdated ideas of the Catholic Church. The story “The Boarding House” provides the reader with excellent examples of a priest who overextended his role in society, and it has been shown that such an occurrence has negative effects of the society as a whole. The Catholic church as a burdensome entity is very well shown in Joyce’s’ the “The sisters”. The story also provides us with a good explanation of the social connotations of religion within the modernist movement. In the stories of Dubliners the legal system is replaced by the institute of religion, and it is the presence and social context of the Catholic Church which prevents the Irish community from advancement.
McCann et al. Belfast: Institute of Irish Studies, 1994, 95-109).
Tovey, H and Share, P. (2002). Sociology of Ireland. 2nd ed. Dublin: Gill & Macmillen.