The story of Punchestown in The Tanyard

Painting of the riders in the Corinthian Cup, 1854, by Michael Angelo Hayes.

The first race meeting of the Kildare Hunt Club took place at Punchestown on 1 April 1850, writes Sean Cleary. It was not a nice day, the jumps were a bit amateurish, 20 over the three-mile course and 14 over the two-miler. There was no stand, limited view and the weather didn’t help. The wind and rain increased in violence and racing continued in what was described as 'a perfect hurricane'.

The first two-day April meeting at Punchestown was in 1854, by which time a wooden stand had been erected. The first day of the 1868 meeting attracted one spectator!

The Prince of Wales, in a white coat, surrounded by other gentlemen, before the stand in 1868, engraving by TS Sanger from a painting by Henry Barraud.

If you would like to know more, come to The Tanyard, Ballitore, on Monday 1 April at 7.30 to hear The Story — the History of Punchestown, its association with the Kildare Hunt Club and its now great Spring Festival. It now has those stands and facilities galore.

Guy St John Williams, author, pundit, historian, columnist and authority on most things equestrian will trace the history of the home of Irish jump racing through 169 years, thick and thin.

The South Kildare Villages Heritage and History Group are hosting this event as their April meeting, first Monday of the month as usual. But with such a speaker and the new amplification and seating layout, gourmet coffee/tea and bickies — it will be a night to remember.

Come early, there might be a surprise or two in the wind as well. The Tanyard is behind the Library in Ballitore. New faces always welcome.

(ED: Illustrations from History Ireland, in an article by the late Con Costello.)


Photographs use Policy — Privacy Policy