Earliest meeting: Monday 24th August 1752
Final meeting: Tuesday 22nd August 1916
The Irish racecourse at the town of Loughrea was in County Galway and today has a population of approximately 6,000. Early records indicate that racing first took place in 1752 when a two day meeting spread over three days began on Monday 24th August 1752. The Loughrea £40 Purse was won by Thomas Lambert’s Starling, while the Gentlemen’s Subscription Purse went to Mr Dillon’s chestnut gelding. Ten years later a full five day meeting, extending from Friday 8th to Wednesday 13th October 1762, featured a Handicap restricted to Irish Bred horses which was won by Modesty owned by Mr Donough. In 1793 the local stewards were concerned about unknown outsiders coming in and poaching their races. They asked the Turf Club to rule on whether horses not known to the local Loughrea stewards should be allowed to run in their races, and to their great relief the Irish Turf Club ruled in their favour. Unrest in the early part of the 19th century and the great famine in the middle of the century both threatened the existence of Loughrea, and they did lose some meetings. However, the Knockbarron course was packed for the two day meeting on Tuesday 14th and Wednesday 15th May 1867. The final meeting of note took place on Tuesday 22nd August 1916 when the Knockbarron Plate was won by First of Man for Mr Joseph Widger, while the Loughrea Town Plate went to Mr J J Parkinson’s Henriette. Races did continue after this point, but they were minor affairs and hunt races.
24th August 1752
Loughrea £40 Purse over 4 miles
1. Starling, bay horse owned by Thomas Lambert
2. Blunder, bay horse owned by Walter Taylor
3. Batchelor, bay gelding owned by Arthur Judge
26th August 1752
Loughrea Gentlemen’s Subscription Purse of 70 Guineas
1. Unnamed chestnut gelding owned by Mr Dillon and ridden by Charles Donnellan
2. Unnamed bay gelding owned by Mr Daly and ridden by Captain Norman
3. Unnamed bay gelding owned by Cornet French and ridden by Mr French
Friday 8th to Wednesday 13th October 1762 (including Sunday!!)
Loughrea Weight for Age Handicap for Irish Bred Horses
1. Modesty owned by Mr Donough
2. Diana owned by Mr Knox
3. Unnamed 6 year old horse owned by Mr Huson
Thursday 26th September to Wednesday 2nd October 1782
Loughrea Three Mile Handicap
1. Harvest owned by Mr Conolly
2. Ophelia owned by Mr J Kirwan
3. Constantia owned by Mr J Fallon
In 1793 the local stewards were concerned about unknown outsiders coming in and poaching their races. They asked the Turf Club to rule on whether horses not known to the local Loughrea stewards should be allowed to run in their races. The Irish Turf Club ruled they should not.
In 1794 The Irish Racing Calendar was published by its proprietor P. Sharkey. It contained an Account of the Plates, Matches and Sweepstakes run for in Ireland from the April Meeting 1794. An extract of this is shown below.
Monday 25th to Saturday 30th August 1794
Loughrea 4 Year Old Purse over 2 miles
1. Drone owned by Mr Kirwan
2. Grosvenor owned by Mr Hamilton
3. Scrambler owned by Mr Daly
Loughrea 5 Year Old Purse over 3 miles
1. Drone owned by Mr Kirwan
2. Tidy owned by Mr Kelly
3. Unnamed spotted filly by Friar owned by Mr Daly
Marquis of Clanricarde Plate over 4 miles
1. Bacchus owned by Mr Kirwan
2. Pantheon owned by Mr Fallon
Thursday 5th to Saturday 7th August 1824
Clanricarde Stakes for Two Year Olds
1. Unnamed filly by Oiseau owned by Mr Kirwan
2. Byron owned by Mr Ffrench
3. Eugenie owned by Mr O’Callaghan
Loughrea Challenge Stakes over 2 miles
1. Hohenlohe owned by Mr Daxon
2. O’Fy owned by Mr Ffrench
The Earl of Clanricarde £50 Stakes over 2 miles
1. Hohenlohe owned by Mr Daxon
2. Petworth owned by Mr Hearne
3. Levanter owned by Mr Blake
An interesting fictional story which mentions steeplechases at Loughrea racecourse was written by Charles Lever, who it is believed was a medical practitioner and member of the Anglo-Irish class in the Loughrea area at one point in the nineteenth century. Ireland at the time was a very hierarchical society and the Anglo-Irish section of society, or Ascendancy, controlled most of the land. At the same they also acted as patrons for most of the horse-racing events. At this time there was the famous Gaelic poet (Antaine Ó Raiftéirí) in the area who was very vocally against some of the local Anglo-Irish gentry, so he may well provide an alternative viewpoint about life in his writings, describing the races from the point of view of the common people. Charles Lever is very much the outside or upper-class viewer. It's all very 'Downton Abbey'
This link takes you to the story which is well-worth reading: http://www.gutenberg.org/files/33082/33082-h/33082-h.htm
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
