Earliest meeting: Tuesday 18th November 1862
Final meeting: Saturday 26th December 1896
The small County Tpperary village of Fethard, in the south of the county, held its own races in the latter part of the 19th century on the Ballintemple course located on the outskirts of the village. The meetings were held in conjunction with the Tipperary Hunt and a day’s hunting was often sandwiched between two race days. The first meeting took place on Tuesday 18th November 1862, but the race committee were forward thing and had a stone and mortar grandstand and a purpose built weighing-yard completed for the 1863 meeting. In the late 1860s the meetings switched to September, around harvest time, and at the meeting on Thursday 17th September 1868 the feature race, the Fethard Town Plate, saw Mr S Mansergh’s Sea Queen overcome the determined challenge of Wild Fox.  In later years meetings were scheduled on Boxing Day and featured races like the Liliputian Plate and Ballintemple Handicap. The final record of a meeting was on Saturday 26th December 1896.

Thursday 17th September 1868
Fethard Town Plate over 1 ½ miles
1. Sea Queen, bay gelding owned by Mr S Mansergh
2. Wild Fox, chestnut gelding owned by Mr S Gubbin
3. Restitution, chestnut mare owned by Mr Cassidy

Much of the information about this course has been found using internet research and is in the public domain. However, useful research sources have been:-

London Illustrated News

Racing Illustrated 1895-1899

The Sporting & Dramatic Illustrated

Northern Turf History Volumes 1-4 by J.Fairfax-Blakeborough

The Sporting Magazine

A Long Time Gone by Chris Pitt first published in 1996 ISBN 0 900599 89 8

Racing Calendars which were first published in 1727

ISBN 978-0-9957632-0-3

652 pages

774 former courses

ISBN 978-0-9957632-1-0

352 pages

400 former courses

ISBN 978-0-9957632-2-7

180 pages

140 former courses

ISBN 978-0-9957632-3-4

264 pages

235 former courses