| I have to say that it is most probable that all we have of the earliest
times of the great Irish hound are more myth or legend than fact. Many of the
tales given as being of the Irish hound (several of which can be found in the
old books) are found also in other countries about other dogs. It is also very
likely (as is stated in Hugh Dalziel's book on "British Dogs") that
translations from other languages were inaccurate and, also, that in Victorian
times, with Richardson and then Captain Graham and his associates, the
"facts" were stretched and sifted to fit the belief held. Whatever
the truth, the stories from the past are fascinating and whether the breed we
have today in any way resembles the ancient Irish wolf-dog (if such an animal
actually existed as a breed as we know it today) seems beside the point, when
it is such a delightful and beautiful creature. As is quoted in 20th Century
Dogs: "If it had emanated from under a gooseberry bush, I should
not love and admire it less; and I could not love and admire it more if it
traced its pedigree from the Hound that issued from the ark." |
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| I have gathered together everything I have been able to find over the past
forty and more years, and am gradually getting all of it on this site, but I am
constantly changing and adding to it as I come across either information or
books or pictures, so it is usually in a state of flux, for which I apologise.
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The name Irish wolfhound is quite a recent one
but the hound itself goes back far into the mists of time. It is mentioned, as
cú (variously translated as hound, Irish hound, war dog, wolf dog, etc.)
in Irish laws, which predate Christianity, and in Irish literature which dates
from the 5th century or, in the case of the Sagas, from the old Irish period -
AD600-900. Only kings and the nobility were allowed to own the great Irish
hound, the numbers permitted depending on position. For example, the Filid (the
professional class of composers of sagas and other tales, who were of the
lesser nobility) were entitled to two hounds. There were plenty of kings and
nobles, as ancient Ireland was divided into fifths, each with a king, and each
fifth comprised numerous kingdoms (there were 150 kingdoms in Ireland) each of
which had a lesser king subject to the kings of the fifths.
The hounds were used as war dogs and as guards of property and herds. They were
also used to hunt deer, boar, and wolves and were held in such high esteem that
battles were fought over them. The Second Century AD saw the rise of the
Fianna, whose domination lasted to AD 300, by which time they had been
overthrown and destroyed in three great battles. The greatest of their chiefs
was Fionn mac Cumhall (Fionn, son of Cumhall). The Fianna did not use chariots
or even horses but were foot soldiers and the stories of the Fianna are of
battles and great hunts with colossal hounds. Each Fian had “two hounds
and two keen beagles”, while Fionn himself had three hundred full-grown
hounds and “puppy hounds two hundred”. His favourite hound was Bran,
who “always killed more men or beasts than Fionn.” |
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| Drawing by Nanci Cipri Schlexer
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| History Index
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| The Romans were in England at this time
and from the Roman Temple of Nodens at Lydney Park, Gloucestershire, we have
the Lydney Dog dating from about 365 AD. This is a bronze statuette which
apparently represents a half-grown wolfhound. The Temple of Nodens was a
healing shrine where dogs were used to lick the sores of visitors as a cure.
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| Lydney Dog |
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| At about the same period we have the
description of Celtic hounds in the works of Arrian: “There is nothing
more beautiful to see, whether their eyes, or their whole body, or their coat
and colour.” “The neck should be long, round, and flexible.
Wide chests are better than narrow ones. The legs should be long, straight, and
well-knit, the ribs strong, the back wide and firm without being fat, the belly
well drawn up, the thighs hollow, the tail narrow, hairy, long and flexible
with thicker hairs adorning the tip. The feet should be round and firm. These
hounds may be of any colour.” The hounds were so greatly prized that
they were frequently given as presents to important personages and often their
collars and chains were of precious metal: “There were seven hounds
held with silver chains with a ball of gold between each of them” and
“with a long chain of antique silver he held in leash two hounds of the
chase.” |
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| Quintus Aurelius Symmachus wrote a letter to his brother
Flavianus thanking him for a gift of seven Irish hounds which had excited the
wonder of the Roman populace. A hound named Ailbe was famed throughout Ireland
to the extent that his owner received an offer from Connaught of “three
score hundred milch cows at once and a chariot with two horses and as much
again at the end of the year.” and a similar offer from Ulster. In the
ensuing battle Ailbe chose to join in on the side of Ulster and was killed, a
fate which frequently befell the cause of such battles. |
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| Drawing by Nanci Cipri Schlexer
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| There are many stories of the bravery and ferocity of the
hounds in battle, such as the one fought by Donald Yellowlocks of Ulster to
avenge the killing of his son by Fergus of Ireland, in which the Ulster hounds
were “with ardour destroying and beheading each warrior”. One
bitch sprang into Fergus’s chariot, which was unable to stand the added
weight and promptly collapsed, and seized the charioteer by the neck and tore
his head from his body. After this, being unable to find Fergus, who had jumped
out of the wreck of the chariot, she killed the horses. |
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| Hunting the wild ox |
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| History Index |
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| The following piece comes from 'The
Intelligence of Dogs' by Stanley Coren (http://www.stanleycoren.com/) reprinted
with permission of the author:
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Consider Patrick MacAlpern, later Saint Patrick, whose life
was strangely entwined with dogs. Around A.D. 400, at age sixteen, Patrick was
abducted by Irish marauders. He was enslaved and kept as a shepherd for six
years, his sole companion being a dog. In response to a dream, he made his way
some two hundred miles to the coast, where he found the ship that the dream
foretold would return him to his own land.
The ship was from Gaul, and the master had put into Irish waters in order to
get a cargo of hunting hounds, which were bringing fabulous prices on European
markets. Not surprisingly, as a penniless runaway slave, Patrick was received
rather unsympathetically when he tried to gain passage. However, just as he was
leaving, he was suddenly called back. It seems that, to maximise his profit,
the captain had opted for stealing, rather than purchasing, his cargo of dogs.
Over one hundred great Irish wolfhounds now packed the holds and filled the
deck of the ship. Taken from their masters and their familiar surroundings, the
giant dogs were frantic and furious, ready to savage anyone who came near. Some
of the sailors had noticed that during Patrick's brief visit to the ship, he
had spoken with some of the dogs and seemed to have a calming effect on them.
Therefore, in exchange for his services - which would involve feeding, cleaning
up after, and otherwise caring for the dogs - Patrick received passage to the
continent. |
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| The ship was badly underprovisioned and reached a ruined and
deserted section of Gaul with its stores exhausted and nothing left to feed
dogs or men. Because the dogs were worth more than the ship, the crew took the
animals, abandoned the ship, and set off on foot, heading inland. Finding no
inhabitants or food in the area, the dogs and men were soon all in jeopardy of
dying of starvation. The ship-master, who had learned that Patrick was a
Christian, turned to him and in a taunting manner said, "If your god is so
great, then pray to him to send us food." Patrick did so, and, the story
goes, a miracle occurred. A herd of wild pigs appeared, seemingly from nowhere.
Instead of bolting and running, as one might have expected, the swine stayed
within reach long enough for the starving men, with the assistance of the dogs,
to kill a number of them, providing meat for all. Predictably, Patrick's
reputation rose considerably, and, after the dogs were marketed, the crew made
a gift to him of some food and a bit of money to help him on his way. |
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| History Index |
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| The Romans were kept out of Ireland by the Fianna and there is
very little in the way of description from that country in those days because
the Irish were unable to write until the advent of Christianity in the 5th
Century. “Collossal hounds”, “Imperious
hounds”, “Swift and noble”, “Noble, fierce,
and swift”, “Swift and active”, “Great was
the bulk”, “Huge wolf-dogs”, “The terrible,
nimble wolf-hounds”. |
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| Colours were white, black, grey, red, and brindled but it
appears that animals such as dogs and horses were dyed different colours,
hence: “Yellow feet that were on Bran, Two black sides and belly white,
Greyish back of hunting colour, Two ears, red, round, small, and
bright” |
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| History
Index |
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The Viking's Daughter, by Herbert
Dicksee |
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| There was apparently much coming and
going between Ireland and Iceland, which gives us the stories of hounds in the
Icelandic Sagas such as that of Burnt Njal in which Olaf, son of an Irish
princess, offers his friend Gunnar a hound that was given to him in Ireland:
“He is big and no worse than a stout man. Besides, it is part of his
nature that he has man’s wit, and he will bay at every man whom he knows
to be thy foe, but never at thy friends. He can see, too, in any man’s
face whether he means thee well or ill, and he will lay down his life to be
true to thee.” In 795 Ireland was invaded by the Vikings. In the year
1014 Brian Boroimhe defeated the Danes at Clontarf and one of the Irish tribes
which served under him was likened to “the terrible, nimble wolfhounds
of victorious Banba”. The Viking era ended in 1103. |
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| From The Book of Kells |
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| One old Irish law entirely concerned the ownership of hounds
and even stated the amount of time for which the hounds of each grade of owner
could be let loose. One provision is for a hound relieving itself on a
neighbour’s property. The excrement must be removed as well as the soil
under it until there is no evidence of any liquid. Sod must be put down and
covered with cow dung for one month. The ground must then be tamped down and
fine clay of the same quality as the adjacent soil added. Compensation of
butter, dough, and curds, each in the same bulk as that of the excrement, must
be paid to the landowner and, if the offence occurred in the presence of the
hound’s owner, he is liable for trespass. |
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| Hunting the wolf |
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| History
Index |
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| The hounds in those days cannot have
been anything like the gentle giants we know today because, when they were
turned loose at night to protect homes and herds, their owners had to ensure
that all guests were safely indoors as the hounds would ferociously attack
strangers. This is what happened to a nephew of King Conor of Ulster, a boy of
seven called Setanta, who was set upon by the hound of Culand which had been
turned loose to guard the cattle. Setanta managed to kill the hound but was
taken aback by Culand’s reaction: “My life is a waste, and my
household like a desert with the loss of my hound! He guarded my life and my
honour, a valued servant, my hound, taken from me. He was shield and shelter
for our goods and herds. He guarded all our beasts, at home or out in the
field.” Setanta therefore offered to take the hound’s place until
a puppy as good as the one slain was grown. From that day forward he was known
as Cú-Culand (Cuchullain), i.e. Culand’s hound. |
| To read
the full story of Setanta/Cú-Culand, click here |
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| Although in this translation from The Book of Leinster
the hound is said to be "An excellent bloodhound have I, that was brought
from Spain." and not an Irish wolfhound, and Setanta killed him with a
ball and not as in the picture below. |
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| Setanta killing Culand's hound |
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| In the early part of the 20th Century, an Irish
wolfhound kennel in southern England was named after Culand’s hound. The
picture below is of some of the Cu-Chulainn Irish wolfhounds with owner Mrs. D.
le B. Bennett. |
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| History Index |
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| 1210 AD an Irish hound was sent as a gift
to Llewellyn, Prince of Wales, by Prince (later King) John of England, which
hound was probably Gelert, slain by Llewellyn under the misapprehension that
the hound had killed his baby son. Gelert’s burial place gave its name to
a town Beddgelert (grave of Gelert). The full story of Gelert can be seen by
clicking here. |
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| In 1224 MacBranan was steward of the Irish hounds owned by
Hugh O’Conor, King of Connaught. As in previous times, the stewardship of
hounds was the responsibility of the head of the army. In the 16th Century an
Irish hound pictured on a battle Standard was described as “A haughty,
powerful monster, mightily venomous, furious, arrogant, sharp-clawed”.
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During the sixteenth, seventeenth, and early eighteenth
centuries, the Irish hounds were in great demand as gifts for Royal and Noble
personages in various countries. Some of the recipients were the Great Mogul,
the Emperor Jehangier, the Shah of Persia, and Cardinal Richelieu. Large
numbers were sent to Spain and King John of Poland is said to have contributed
to their near extinction in Ireland by procuring as many as he could lay hands
on. In 1652 a Declaration was issued banning the exportation of hounds from
Ireland on account of their scarcity.
About 1697 Ray described the Irish greyhound thus: “The greatest dog I
have yet seen, surpassing in size even the Molossus, as regards shape of body
and general character similar in all respects to the common Greyhound; their
use is to catch wolves.” About 1750-60 Buffon describes them as
follows: “They are far larger than our largest Matins and they are very
rare in France. I have never seen but one, which seemed to me, when sitting
quite upright, to be nearly five feet high, and to resemble in form the dog we
call the Great Dane, but it differed from it greatly in the largeness of its
size. It was quite white and of a gentle and peaceable disposition.”
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| The Irish
Gre-Hound |
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In 1770 Goldsmith wrote: “The last variety, and the
most wonderful of all that I shall mention, is the great Irish wolfdog, that
may be considered as the first of the canine species.....Nevertheless he is
extremely beautiful and majestic in appearance, being the greatest of the dog
kind to be seen in the world. The largest of those I have seen - and I have
seen about a dozen - was about four feet high, or as tall as a calf of a year
old. He was made extremely like a Greyhound but more robust, and inclining to
the figure of the French Matin or the Great Dane. His eye was mild, his colour
white, and his nature seemed heavy and phlegmatic....the size was enormous but,
as it seemed to me, at the expense of the animal’s fierceness, vigilance,
and sagacity. However, I was informed otherwise; the gentleman who bred them
assuring me that a Mastiff would be nothing when opposed to one of them, who
generally seized their antagonist by the back.” Few pictures date from
this time and descriptions vary between smooth and rough-coated hounds, with
the preponderance being smooth.
A Mr. Watson in County Carlow, said to have killed the last wolf at Myshall in
1786, kept hounds described as “Coarse, powerful animals in no way
resembling the grand old giant rough greyhound, commonly known as the Irish
wolfhound.” Once their prey was gone, the Irish hounds fell upon even
harder times with only a few families keeping them “more for ornament
than for use” and complaints abounded that they were “reduced
in size” or “made coarse through being crossed with the Danish
breed” or “now so crossed that two are hardly seen
alike.” However, it is unlikely that standardisation of breeds as we
think of it was practised in those times when the Irish hound was at its
greatest. Any dog large, powerful, fast and fierce enough to do the job would
have been used and it is quite probable that types varied widely and that there
were smooth and rough coated varieties, particularly when they were being bred
as companions once there was no longer work for them. |
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| Great Wolf Dog |
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In his “Natural History” of 1772, Brooke states:
“The Irish wolfdog is, as “Ray” affirms, the highest dog he
had ever seen, being much larger than a Mastiff dog but more like a Greyhound
in shape.” Smith, in his “History of Waterford” in
1774, says: “The Irish greyhound, though formerly abounding in this
country, is likewise become nearly extinct. This dog is much taller than the
Mastiff, but made more like a Greyhound.” Bewick in 1792 says that:
“These dogs are about three feet high, generally of a white or cinnamon
colour, and made somewhat like a Greyhound but more robust. Their aspect is
mild, their disposition peaceable, their strength is so great that in combat
the Mastiff or Bulldog is far from being equal to them. They mostly seize their
antagonists by the back and shake them to death, which their great strength
generally enables them to do.”
In 1859 Woods’ “Natural History” states: “The
Irish Greyhound is four feet in length, and very firmly built; it is of a pale
fawn colour and much rougher than the smooth English Greyhound. Unless excited
by the sight of its game, or by anger, it is a very peaceful animal; but when
roused exhibits a most determined spirit. In these days their numbers are
comparatively few. When fighting it takes its antagonist by the back and shakes
the life out of the foe by main strength. One of these dogs measured sixty-one
inches in total length; twenty-eight and a half inches from the toe to the top
of the shoulder, and thirty-five inches in girth.” “The Scotch
Greyhound is still rougher in its coat than its Irish relative but hardly so
large in its make.” |
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| History
Index |
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| Hounds in an old Irish kitchen
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The “Encyclopaedia Britannica” in 1877
states: “Of the wire-haired breed the Irish greyhound or wolfdog is an
example. This magnificent breed is now become extinct in that country. It was
probably introduced from Ireland into Scotland, where its modified descendant,
the deerhound, still bears witness to the great strength and agility of its
progenitor.” In May 1878, the New York “Country”
says: “All the testimony which comes down to us agrees as to his
sagacity, courage, strength, speed, and size. On his size there is a difference
of opinion. Allowing that he attained a height of from thirty-two to
thirty-five inches, he is taller than any breed now living, yet the early
accounts of him state he was from three to four feet high.”
Major H.D.Richardson, a Scot living in Dublin, took up the cause of the Irish
wolfhound and wrote several articles on the subject, exhorting gentlemen to
save the breed before it was too late. Eventually, he took his own advice and
gathered together what specimens he could find which he considered carried the
old bloodlines. Little is known of Richardson’s breeding programme but it
is probable he used some outcrosses, including one to a Pyrenean, and he also
interbred any genuine specimens of the old Irish Wolfdog that he found with the
Glengarry Deerhounds. It has also been said that Glengarry used a Pyrenean, but
that was a different type to the breed we know today, being taller and less
heavy, with prick ears, and resembling the ancient Spanish hounds from which it
was descended.
This picture headed an article by Major Richardson in The Irish Penny
Journal, No. 45, of Saturday, May 8, 1841, on THE IRISH WOLFDOG. To read
the whole article, click here. |
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The greyhound! the great hound! the graceful of limb!
Rough fellow! tall fellow! swift fellow, and slim!
Let them sound through the earth, let them sail o’er the sea,
They will light on none other more ancient than thee!
OLD MS. |
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In 1846-7 Richardson wrote a book
entitled “The Dog; its Origin, Natural History, and
Varieties”, in which he asserted that the Irish Wolfdog and the
Highland Deerhound were one and the same breed, although much degenerated in
the latter. However, in 1847 Thomson in his “Natural History of
Ireland” writes “The noble race of domestic animals, the Irish
wolfdog, has now, I fear, become extinct. As Dr. Scouler says: ‘The
wolfdog must now be included in the list of lost animals, although the date of
his disappearance is within the memory of people still living. He was a very
distinct race from the Scotch deerhound or wolfdog, which resembled the Irish
breed in size and courage, but differed from it by having a sharper muzzle and
pendant ears.’” Both Richardson and Dalziel (in “British
Dogs”, 1879) made a distinction between the Scottish Deerhound and the
Scottish Rough Greyhound. Dalziel, in fact, complains that the Scottish Rough
Greyhound has been “mixing with his larger brethren the
Deerhounds” to the detriment of the size and weight of the latter.
Richardson based much of his breeding efforts on the Glengarry Deerhounds,
noted for their size and heavy build. Glengarry appears to have had the object
of producing a strain of hounds, one brace of which (dog and bitch) should be
sufficient to track, follow, and pull down a deer, and he bred the bitches
almost as large as the dogs. In 1859 the “Gazetteer of the
World” says: “The Irish Greyhound is now seldom met with, its
appearance is beautiful and majestic, its height about three feet, its courage
and strength so great that the Mastiff or bulldog is far from equal to
it.” |
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| Richardson's breeding was passed on to Sir John Power of
Kilfane, Mr. Baker of Ballytobin, and Mr. Mahoney of Dromore, who were breeding
from about 1842 to 1873. |
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| History Index |
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| Many crosses with Great Danes have been
carried out since the seventeenth century. Some of the earlier ones were fairly
light in build and greyhoundy in shape, as with le grand Danois (on
left), very much like le Mâtin (on the right and otherwise usually called
the Belgian dog and supposedly the dog from which all other dogs are descended)
from Buffon's Histoire Naturelle: |
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| but later ones were quite different, being tall and massive,
much more like the Great Dane we know today:- |
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| The chief complaint against using the Dane as an outcross was
that the offspring were clumsy and had straight stifles. Halfway through the
19th century, Captain George Augustus Graham came on the scene, and determined
to bring back the Irish wolfhound to its former glory. He had a hard task
before him because, not only were there very few specimens available of the old
bloodlines, but some of them were not able to breed and others were very
delicate. He complained that death and disease robbed him of his finest
specimens. He started breeding around 1863. For more on Captain Graham
click here. |
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| An interesting article on the origins of dogs in Ireland and,
more specifically, the Irish wolfhound appeared in The Irish Naturalist
in August and September, 1924. To read the article,
click here. |
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| It is interesting that, among the greatly divergent types
which were around at the end of the last century, there was one beautiful hound
of excellent type which appeared in many of the pictures by Herbert Dicksee.
Was it an actual hound or only Dicksee’s idea of what a hound should be?
If it was a real animal, from whence did it come and why did it differ so
greatly from the other hounds of the period? The Deerhound people claim it as
one of theirs and, in fact, when wolfhounds first started being shown, several
of those in the ring had previously been shown as Deerhounds. |
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The first Irish Wolfhounds to be registered with the English
Kennel Club were listed as "Foreign Dogs", starting in 1880, and were
not listed as "Irish Wolfhounds" until 1886. Many of these early
registrations were of unknown breeding, or crossbreeds. (For details of the
early registrations,click here).
"The Irish Wolfhound Club was founded in 1885, and the
Kennel Club recognised the Irish Wolfhound as a sporting breed in 1925. In 1902
a hound was first presented to the Irish Guards as a mascot. (For more on the
Irish Wolfhound as a Regimental Mascot, click here)
The breed got into difficulties during the First and Second World Wars. After
the 1914-18 war, the descendants of Hindhead Mollie did a great deal to get the
breed back on its feet. Mollie’s sire was Hy Niall, bought as a four month
puppy for a few shillings from a tramp. Hy Niall was registered at the Kennel
Club as an Irish wolfhound with a made-up pedigree. After the Second World War,
the American-bred Rory of Kihone played the largest part in the breed’s
recovery. He was a gift from his breeder, Miss F. Jeannette McGregor, to the
English Club. More on Rory and on the other American hound of this time, Ch.
Cragwood Barney O'Shea of Riverlawn, can be seen by clicking
here. |
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| For more details on the great names in the breed in the U.K.,
on how the Irish wolfhound was described in early books, and on how the breed
progressed from Graham's time onwards, see the index at the top of this page.
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| Updated 1/10/2016 |
