IRISH MUNSTER CIRCUIT

IRISH (MUNSTER) CIRCUIT 2008

If you enjoy showing and you want to try something different, try the Irish Circuit!

Don't expect any of the following:-

Fine weather - if you get it, it's a bonus

Wet weather accommodation - there is none; take your umbrella, or a tent - see pics

Time to draw breath between classes - never any

What you can expect:-

A warm welcome (sincere)

Lovely people who are genuinely interested in dogs

Lots of rain

Beautiful scenery to enjoy before and after the shows

Beaches where the dogs can run forever

Plenty of laughs

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2008 was our seventh year on the Circuit, along with our friends, Nigel and Sue from Cheddar, (who we met on our very first Circuit) together with their Welsh Springer Spaniels and Jack Russell Maible, and Mike and Anne from South Wales with their Bernese Mountain Dogs.

Wednesday 13th. August. We all met at Pembroke Dock in good spirits.

After the worst ferry crossing we've ever had; force nine gale and a storm in mid sea; boat bucking and rearing like a wild horse; we arrived at the first camp-site around nine o'clock at night in the dark and got both our van and caravan stuck in the mud. Mike had cleverly avoided it and Nigel had a motor mover on his caravan so he was OK. Everybody helped but it took till nearly eleven o'clock to winch ours out. I'd made a lasagne, which Sue heated up so we could all eat but I don't think eating at midnight is to be recommended.

Thursday it rained. In fact it was so wet that we decided not to put our awning up, likewise Nigel and Sue. Mike and Anne did put theirs up, which came in very handy the next night when Fran (Smith-King) and Bill (Barnbrook) from Scotland, who joined us on Thursday morning with their Wolfhounds, found themselves homeless. Their tent was all but blown away in galeforce winds on Friday evening while we were all in town having a Chinese.

It went downhill from there really but I won't bore you with the details. We survived and there was an occasional sunny day to dry everything out - and looking back we had some really smiley moments, as we usually do on this annual event.

Three of the shows we were quite lucky with the weather and didn't get more than damp. Limerick made up for that. We had a thorough drenching and dogs and humans were plastered in mud by the time we'd finished in the ring.

Probably the worst thing was the morning of Tralee Show, (which was moved to Castle Island due to the usual ground being waterlogged), when we were told that there had been a serious accident involving Wolfhounds on the way to the show. We were relieved to hear later that owners and Wolfhounds were OK, albeit shocked and bruised. Our very best wishes go to Brian and Freda and their hounds. We hope that you make speedy recoveries and your traumatic experience doesn't put you off doing the Circuit again.

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breathtaking scenery