Pouladuff & Bishopstown Coursing Club

The Pouladuff Coursing Club was founded on December 12th 1929 by a group of enthusiasts from the general area. Coursing was a sport where owners and their greyhounds would pursue game and other animals across large tracts of land. To this end , they rented ground from local farmers for this purpose. The function of the club was to bring together the greyhound fraternity and regulate the sport for the benefit of all concerned. The club would very soon amalgamate with Bishopstown. The commitee was made up largely of old Republicans and John Joe Hegarty of The Laurels , Pouladuff Road soon joined their ranks upon his return from the U.S. in 1932 later going on to join the committee. In the 1940s his passion for greyhounds extended to the racing track where he bred two winners , " Urhan Bridge " and " Hi Maeve ". He later helped to found the Cork County Open Coursing club which brought all the clubs together. 

 

Carroll's Field , Kilmurriheen , Togher

Flapper track used by Pouladuff Coursing Club

 

Dog shed in old flapper track

Kilmurriheen , Togher

John Joe Hegarty ( 2nd from left ) with family members

 

The coursing club was heavily regulated and fines and penalties would be handed out to anybody breaking the rules. A list of landowners and fees payable were kept in their Lease Book ( see below ). Jim Hegarty remembers during the 1960s , he and his friends would often find themselves out by the then new airport trapping hares for enclosed coursing at Blarney. They could be heard shouting and beating the ground with sticks and periodically had to stop while passengers entered the terminal. Jim recalls how the passengers must have thought they'd landed in a mad place. Besides the usual venues for open course and racing tracks , there was also a " flapper " track located in Kilmurriheen known officially as Parkwest Track & Kennels but known to locals as Carroll's Field where new puppies could be tried out by their owners. These particular tracks were completely unregulated and had no code of conduct. However they proved very useful for the breeders in selecting future champions. Today the track is unused and overgrown while the concrete sheds which housed the dogs are in a ruinous state.

 

Gus Fennell ( with Cup ) & Jim Hegarty

holding greyhound 1960s

Obi. John Joe Hegarty
1973

Below is a copy of the original Lease Book of the Pouladuff & Bishopstown Coursing Club from 1940 showing all the Townlands rented out for the sport. The plastic markers glued next to each entry indicate that full payment has been made to each landowner for the use of the land. It can be seen that many of the Townlands were part of the greater Togher territory.

*Coursing is regulated under the Greyhound Industry Act, 1958, chiefly by the Irish Coursing Club (ICC), subject to the general control and direction of Rásaíocht Con Éireann (RCÉ).