Earliest meeting: Monday 20th February 1871
Final meeting: Thursday 7th March 1872
Tinahely is a small market town in the valley of the Derry River in County Wicklow. Most of the village was destroyed by fire during the 1798 rebellion, but was rebuilt by Lord Fitzwilliam in the early part of the 19th century. The town held its own races in the latter part of the century; the first meeting took place over 2 miles of good hunting ground on Monday 20th February 1871. The principal races at the meeting were the Tinahely Plate over 2 miles, and the Tinahely Farmers’ race. The meeting was deemed a success and repeated the next year on Thursday 7th March 1872 when the crowd was boosted because the Dublin, Wicklow and Wexford Railway laid on a special excursion which started from Enniscorthy at 9.30 and had numerous Second and Third Class carriages. However, the meeting was not a success despite the glorious weather on the day. The management team were anything but effective and it was little thanks to them that the Farmers’ race took place on time and was won by Mr Kavanagh’s Marshall MacMahon. The Tinahely Handicap over 2 miles followed and saw Mr T Maher’s Donore beat Eugene and Chit Chat. As an acknowledgement to the Railway Company the feature race was the Railway Stakes over 2 miles which was won by Kate for Mr J Cassidy. The poor showing of the Stewards and the Management team meant that no further races were held in the town. |
| This racecourse is covered in Volume 4 of Racecourses Here Today and Gone Tomorrow. Ordering details shown below. |
| Local Patrons |
Mr P Leale, Mr A Manders, Mr Kavanagh |
| Principal Races |
Tinahely Handicap, Tinahely Plate, Railway Stakes |
Thursday 7th March 1872
The Railway Plate over 2 miles
1. Kate, aged mare owned by Mr J Cassidy
2. Hilltown, aged horse owned by Mr T Whitney
3. No Name, 5 year old owned by Mr A Manders |
| The final meeting took place on Thursday 7th March 1872. |
| Course today |
Across 2 miles of fair hunting ground on the outskirts of the town. |
| 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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