Earliest meeting: Thursday 29th April 1834
Final meeting: Friday 28th March 1862
Today Tallagh, on the River Dodder, is the largest town in South Dublin, but back in the middle of the 19th century it was a small village surrounded by beautiful countryside. That beautiful countryside, ideal for hunting, was exploited to the full on Thursday 29th April 1834 when the Tallagh Union Cup was contested by 5 runners, with Mr McGrannie’s Sunbeam prevailing against Mr Brown’s Master Robert. Races continued to be held on a frequent basis for the next 28 years. However, on Monday 7th February 1859 tragedy struck when the Stand House, occupied by 400 people, crashed severely injuring several people. On Thursday 4th April 1861 the meeting opened with the Dublin Trade Plate over 2 miles which saw Mr Watson’s Rose Fagan beat The Cob and The Dodger, while the following race, the Dublin Car Owners Challenge Cup, was won by Mr Scott’s Little Bob. The feature race was the Cookstown Handicap Plate which was landed by Mr T Watson’s The Cob. The final meeting under rules took place on Friday 28th March 1862 under the stewardship of Captain Burrowes, but there was a meagre attendance to witness a single event which was won by Mr Cassidy’s Mount Brown. |
| This racecourse is covered in Volume 4 of Racecourses Here Today and Gone Tomorrow. Ordering details shown below. |
| Local Patrons |
Captain Burrowes, Mr Scott, Mr T Watson, Mr Power |
| Principal Races |
Cookstown Handicap Plate, Dublin Trade Plate |
Thursday 4th April 1861
Cookstown Handicap Plate over 1 ½ miles
1. The Cob, aged horse owned by Mr T Watson
2. Gentle Judy, aged horse owned by Mr Power
3. The Heir, 4 year old owned by Mr Green |
| The final meeting took place on Friday 28th March 1862. |
| Course today |
In open countryside on the edge of the village. |
| If you have photos, postcards, racecards. badges, newspaper cuttings or book references about the old course, or can provide a photo of how the ground on which the old racecourse stood looks today, then email johnwslusar@gmail.com |
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 |
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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 |
| Copies of the above books are only available by emailing johnwslusar@gmail.com stating your requirements, method of payment (cheque payable to W.Slusar) or Bank transfer, and the address where the book(s) should be sent. |
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