The Knights of Glin

Every sport has its own strongholds, places where the game is bred in the bone.

On the world scene we can look at rugby for example and think of New Zealand in the southern hemisphere, south Wales on this side of the equator; more locally, on the GAA scene we all know of the two Ks, Kilkenny in hurling and the mighty Kingdom of Kerry in football. But what of coursing?

Where is coursing’s stronghold? It’s a thorny question, and as with hurling, football, rugby, a question to which there are a myriad of answers, depending on who’s doing the answering. Without question, however, one of the places with a strong claim is Glin in west Limerick, on the north Kerry border and running along the south bank of the Shannon Estuary, and one of those who would make that argument is Pat Moloney, patriarch of a local clan long immersed in this ancient pastime.

“This is all doggie country around here, massive support for coursing and for our meeting in Glin every year.

There’s a family in Glin and they’ve won the Derby, the Oaks and the Irish Cup twice — that’s John Barrett and Conor Sheehan. They have fierce luck, they’ve won everything. Bexhill Brian (Irish Cup and Champion Stakes), Bexhill Cottage (Oaks), Bexhill Eoin (Derby). Bexhill Eoin is, of course, the leading sire in the country and is responsible for over 50 qualifiers this season.

“In the Derby this year there are four dogs from Glin, many of them leading fancies; Kieran Culhane has Hunter’s Glory, there’s a syndicate that owns Go Home Hare, John Flynn has Hopes and Dreams – John actually has four dogs qualified – and we have Solid Monk. And as well as those, Offshore Eoin, a very fast dog, was bought down the road from here.”

Tom tells a fascinating tale about the syndicate owners of the well fancied Go Home Hare.

“They were in Clonmel last year and got the bug. After a bit of a chat in the bar, they formed the Mel syndicate, and decided on the name of the dog — Go Home Hare. Then they bought a sapling and sent him to Dessie Kerrigan in the north, and, as instructed, Dessie travelled all the way down from Lifford to the local meeting in Glin for the dog’s first run. He ran away with the local stake so he was then entered in the Trial Stake in Donegal.

“That’s where the fun started for the 16 lads booked a weekend away, took a bus up, made a full weekend of it. And he won the Trial Stake amid massive celebrations — now he’s joint favourite for the Derby; he even has his own Facebook page, over 100 friends on it!

“They have nine rooms block-booked in the Clonmel Park Hotel, a bus leaving at 12 o’clock on the Sunday – it will be some few days for them!”

Back to Solid Monk who is owned by Pat’s sons Tom and Eamon but – as in all such households – it’s actually a full family affair, everyone taking turns in the walking, helping out in the feeding. Matriarch Mary bakes the brown bread that’s fed to the Monks (that’s the kennel name), grand-daughters Megan and Neila will help out with the feeding (Megan also knit the two collars, the red and the white), while cousin Liam, son of Pat’s late brother of the same name, helps out with the walking.

“He’s been helping us out since Christmas when we won the Trial Stake,” Tom explains; “He’s after losing a stone and a half already from the walking!”.

At which Eamon interjects – “If only Clonmel was another six weeks away — we’d get great value out of him altogether with the track dogs!”

The track is the bread-and-butter element of the operation and the Moloney’s are good at that too, bringing off a few nice ‘touches’ every now and again .

Eamon has taken over the running of the farm but that, says Pat, is small-time – “It’s hard going, you wouldn’t have the kind of land around here that you’d have up around North Cork/south Limerick.”

Coursing though is purely for fun, a far more hit-and-miss affair, but now, if Solid Monk does the business, if Turn The Tide turns up trumps in the Oaks (Pat has a half-share, while Tom’s girlfriend Julie O’Sullivan has the other half), who knows? Could yet turn out to be a very profitable pastime.

After getting a very tough opening draw against Uptown Abu, Tom was still philosophical: “He’s great dog but that’s the great strength of coursing — the uncertainty, the variables. There’s the draw, the slip, the hare, the field, the possibility of hound losing sight of hare, the final judge’s call, and if any one of those goes against you it could mean the difference between victory and defeat.

“As long as there is fair play we all accept whatever befalls us.”

In their quest for glory, the local contingent will be cheered on by their friends and neighbours from Glin and Ballyhahill.

“We moved here from the home place in Glin,” says Pat; “The postal address is still Glin but we’re actually now in Ballyhahill parish. There’s fierce rivalry there in the football but when it comes to coursing, we all support each other.”

Tom actually played his football with Glin, Eamonn with Ballyhahill, and when those two clubs meet on the GAA pitch there isn’t much love lost. In coursing, however, very different story. Eamon: “If anyone has a win, the pubs in Glin will be packed that Sunday night, everyone celebrates. A neighbour here won the local this year — it was like winning the Derby, the celebrations were unbelievable!”

What if they do win the Derby this year, however, what if Solid Monk delivers the dreams? And what if – to cap it off – Turn The Tide does just that in the Oaks for Julie and Pat, what then?

‘Glin – Home of Coursing’?