Earliest meeting: Monday 17th May 1858
Final meeting: Saturday 10th August 1907
The Dublin seaside town of Skerries Strand today has almost 9000 inhabitants, and even in the middle of the 19th and early 20th century it could command a good crowd when it hosted race meetings on the sand. An early period of racing was held in the mid-19th century, starting on Monday 17th May 1858 and lasting for a couple of years. The important races in those early days were the Balcumman Stakes and the Railway Stakes. Meetings then lapsed for some considerable time before returning between 1903 and 1907. The meeting on Saturday 4th August 1906 attracted an enormous crowd to witness Esculapius land the odds in the Skerries Plate over 2 miles. Later on the card the Railway Plate went to Mr H M Hartigan’s Severna, while the Strand Plate was won by Most Noble for Mr R Courtney. The final meeting took place on Saturday 10th August 1907, although some minor races of little significance took place over the next two years.

Saturday 4th August 1906
Skerries Plate over 2 miles
1. Esculapius, aged horse owned by Mr E Delany
2. Paddy Brown, aged horse owned by Mr J B Foster
3. Dolandstown, aged horse owned by Mr P Rogers
Betting: 4/5 Esculapius, 7/4 Paddy Brown, 6/1 Dolandstown

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