News Update - March 2014

[willie reynolds]

Leinster North Road Federation - (2)

Recently the Barrow Valley RPC held their AGM, in the Graiugecullen GAA Clubhouse. Elected for the 2014 season were Joe Brennan as Treasurer, Roly Brennan as Secretary, and Francis Corcoran as Chairman, Frank Archbold is the club’s adviser and tidies up any loose ends that have to be done in and around the club, with a wealth of experience, and respect from all over the country, he is the right man to have in your team. The club has a thriving membership of over 30 with two new additions for the 2014 season. Racing from the North, with the Leinster North Road federation, will start on Sunday 27th of April with maybe a short pipe opener the previous week from Mullingar or Navan for club members.

On Tuesday March 6th, the Federation held their meeting to set the race programme for 2014, the meeting was well attended, with delegates from every club present.
The Chairman, Joe o Neill welcomed the new club from Fethard into the Federation.

After some discussion, the race programme for this year is as follows, Starting on April 27th from Navan, then Navan, Carrigmacross, Monaghan, Larne, Larne, Mauchline, Cookstown, Hamilton, Malin Head, and finally Frazerburgh on Friday July 4th. Mauchline on June 7th will incorporate the Yearling National & The Malin Head race on June 29th will be the new Federation Derby. Racing will be on Sunday’s, except for the Nationals which are on a Saturday for Mauchline and Hamilton and Friday for Frazerburgh.

The young bird programme commences on July 20th from Navan, then Navan, Carrigmacross, Monaghan, Cookstown, Larne, Carrigmacross, Mauchline, and finally Malin Head on September 14th.
There will be a Carrigmacross race to be flown on Monday the 8th of September, race marking for this one will be Sunday 7th.

This year the Fed have organised a Golden Ring scheme at a cost of €10 per ring or six rings for €50. Ring numbers, to be with the secretary Kathleen Delaney, one week before the first young bird race. With full payment to the treasurer Francis Corcoran on or before the night of the first young bird race. Here’s hoping for a good response from all Fed members. The race will take place from Larne on Sunday August 24th when 80% of the income will be raced for, a further 10% will be raced for from Mauchline on September 6th, given out as one prize for the highest velocity of a Golden ring bird clocked in that race, please note that in order to win the prize from Mauchline, the young bird must have competed from the Golden ring race from Larne as well. The remaining 10% will be kept for Fed funds.

Jimmy Kelly Auction.
23/02/14

Sunday the 23rd of February seen the entire clearance sale of pigeons belonging to Jimmy Kelly of the Barrow Valley RPC here in Carlow. The venue, which was the Eire og GAA club rooms, must be one of the best, here in the south of Ireland, with all the necessary requirements to run a good sale, plenty of room, plenty of Light and a nice lounge bar down stairs for those that finished early spending their hard earned cash.

Jimmy would like to thank all those that travelled long distances and also the local fanciers that supported the sale, all birds were sold on the day by budding auctioneers Roly Brennan and Peter Power, they done a magnificent job in getting through a really big squad of pigeons. Thanks also to Joe Brennan, John Hammond, Derek o Shea, Michael Ramsbottom, Joe Keegan and Frank archbold for their sterling work during the long day, and finally the best of good fortune to all those that purchased stock on the day.

On a personal note, I would just like to say that it’s sad to see good pigeon men like Jimmy having to give up the sport that he loved so much, and I’m sure that if it wasn’t for serious health issues, these birds would never have been sold.
I have known Jimmy Kelly for over 35 years, and well remember when his good Mealy Pied hen won 3rd Open in the young bird National from Malin Head, that was in 1980 and it left a lasting impression on him to do well in National racing over the coming years. Later, my brother Tony and I helped Jimmy import the Jeff Horn Busschearts direct from the doctor himself, among the birds brought in. was a small hen that Jimmy wasn’t fond of and which the Doctor replaced, however he did allow Jimmy to keep the small hen, saying that he was sure that she would do him some good, as it happened, that hen went on to breed the famous Jeff, one of the best pigeons that ever raced in Carlow, often winning races by the proverbial mile, this beautiful blue cock had the capacity to leave the flock at any time he wanted, as often was the case when we were training, he could be seen just skating away from the rest within seconds of being released, myself and John Shea { RIP } would often race home to Jimmy’s house with his baskets, only to find that Jeff would be well settled on his nest, well before any other birds were home.

Jimmy was never afraid to buy the best pigeons he could find, always with one intension in mind and that was to win Thurso the most prestigious race here in the south of Ireland, never an easy task, even at club level with the likes of Billy Brooks, Frank Archbold and a few more in our club alone, dominating the distance scene at National level in recent years, but Jimmy stuck with it and eventually got his just rewards in 2013 when winning 1st Club 1st section & 2nd open from Thurso, this was an outstanding performance when you consider that the same hen had already scored 3rd Club, 3rd section & 3rd Open in 2012 from the same race point, that hen was the product of two direct Gary Inkly pigeons purchased direct for stock. She was sold at the recent auction, and I really do hope that she goes on to breed some super pigeons for her new owner.

I’ll leave you this week with some photo’s from the past.

As usual I can be contacted on Francis Corcoran@alpinelofts.net or 00353 5991 45419.
Punch.


Blackpool 1985 - Mikey Mahoney, Paddy Galvin, Enda Kelly, Derek O'Shea, Frank Archbold, Peter Flynn, John O'Shea, Charlie M.


At Houtan Spring Fair 2009 - Sean Tubbard, Peter Tubbard, Paul Gunning, Ollie Gittens.


Paddy Moore Barrow Valley, 1st Open YB Nat Girvan 1989.

[willie reynolds]

Leinster North Road Federation 3

For 2014 we had decided on not going on our usual trip to Belgium, we have been going now constantly since 2006 and because of the financial climate here in Ireland at the moment we decided to give it a miss, however, with us, that is Joe, Derek & myself, things have a habit of changing, pretty well on the spot, and so it was that we booked to go on the 21st of March thinking that all would be well and that our young birds from the usual source would be ready and waiting, after a second chat with the vendor, it was his opinion that we would be better off to wait for another week or ten days. So that’s the situation at the moment with us rebooked to go on April 4th, hope all goes well this time.
Breeding and racing pigeons over a long period is one thing, but to breed and race successfully for over forty years is quite another.

One such man in our club, the Barrow Valley RPC is Billy Brooks who has been winning races now at the very highest level for over four decades right up to the present day, culminating in winning in the last three years alone, 1st Open National Thurso 2011 .2nd Open National Thurso 2012 and 3rd Open National Thurso in 2013 flying 426 miles on one of the toughest routes to fly, from the north of Scotland into the south of Ireland, and these are not the only results as Billy has already won another four National races in the proceeding years all from Scotland.

His family of pigeons have been self built over the years with very few introductions since putting together his team in 1972, when the older strains as they are now called were introduced, strains such as Billy Erwin, Bertie McCabe, and Bob Harkness pigeons, all from Northern Ireland these have been blended together over the years to form a family of birds that can fly all day long to make their home loft ,but don’t give up easily and will make their way home on the second day if necessary. When you consider that in the three races mentioned above there were only three birds clocked on the day in 2011 with only sixteen clocked in race time, 2012 had no birds on the day with only five in race time, and 2013 had no birds on the day and only three birds in race time, that will give you an idea of the tenacity of these birds.

Billy lives some twelve miles outside town in a small village called Fenagh, with petrol prices what they are at the moment, he normally just sends his birds to the inland race points more or less as trainers not coming back to town to have his clock struck off at clock checking, however I’m not sure that its not the dreaded mobile phone contact that spoils fanciers anticipation of the final result.

Up to a few years ago every member returned to the clubhouse, especially those from outside the town with the hope of a good result, nowadays what I would call a spoiling game goes on every Sunday morning with fanciers phoning & texting one another even down the line of flight that takes away the enjoyment of the sport to some extent. To me, we are time enough finding out one another’s timing when we enter the clubhouse, that way at least there are a few more members present for the result. Personally I don’t wish to know of any one’s timing until clock checking, sitting in the garden watching arrivals, even late one’s, is what most people enjoy about the sport of pigeon racing, there’s plenty of time to find out who has clocked what at clock checking.

1982 was a year I remember for two reasons, the first, was the young bird National of that year from Girvan with the Eire National North road flying club, released on the Sunday morning with a good forecast, there was no indication of what was about to unfold in that race, for not one young bird returned in race time and there was no result for that race, it was on the following Thursday that Billy Brooks had the first arrival recorded from the race. On the Friday morning Tony Corcoran had one of his entries return and they were the only two birds ever heard of from Girvan, certainly a race to be forgotten about in terms of returns, but not forgotten as a reminder of what can and has gone wrong in races over the years, and losses in racing are not a new occurrence as some would have us believe.

The second event to bring back memories of 1982 was the loss of one of the best birds to have raced in the south of Ireland , Champion “ Dick“, a fantastic racing pigeon that had already competed on five previous occasions from Thurso 479 miles for his owner, the late Ger Crotty of Dungarvan in Co Waterford , he had won the Munster Federation as a yearling in 1976, was 7th Open Munster Fed in 1977, flew Thurso in 78 & 79 and was then 1st Munster Fed from Thurso in 1980, he was sent again to the Thurso National in 1982 as a seven year old, some weeks beforehand he had taken a bit of a knock in training and had developed a slight limp, but Ger was still confident that “ Dick” would make it, however the race turned out to be plagued by the weather and the birds were held over for a few days, with no sign of improvement in the weather, it was decided to bring the birds back to Girvan for release, although it was not such a difficult race Champion Dick was never seen again, he had flown his last race.

As it happened Dessie Redmond, from Wexford, another great north road flyer of that era, was the winner that year.
That’s it for this week , let’s hope the weather picks up over the next few days so that we can get started on a bit of training, although with a late start for our Fed this year we should have plenty of time to get a few ready for the first races.
As usual I can be contacted on Corcoran@alpinelofts.net or 00353599145419.

Punch.

Francis Corcoran, Alpine Lofts/Aviaries, 568 Shed Road, Levitstown,Maganey, Co. Kildare, 059 91 45419 www.alpinelofts.net


Champion Dick.


Billy Brooks (l) with Tony Corcoran.

[willie reynolds]

Leinster North Road Federation 4.

Now that we have entered into April and have only twenty seven day’s to prepare for the first race, its time we started getting out the baskets in preparation for a few training spins, I will start my own off handy enough with a few short one’s, just to blow away the cobwebs, no matter how far and well the birds have raced in the past, they still need to be handled with care in the early part of the season, and by not stretching them to far in the first few spins we can avoid both losses and muscle strain, a problem that can be encountered in the cold winds of April, and once the damage has been done, its very difficult to get them back on track any time soon, some can even be finished for the season, no, its best to go easy until the weather warms up a bit.

Speaking to Harry Beale recently the subject as usual turned to \North Road National racing, and when I asked him about one of his best performances, I was surprised to hear that it was as far back as nineteen eighty nine, funny enough, I remember the race well as I had been talking to Peter Power from Waterford the previous evening and he was full of optimism, and expected a decent result with the team he had sent to Perth for the Old Bird Derby, his parting words were that his good two year old pied cock would be hard to beat if he crossed the channel safely, and he was nearly right as it was Harry Beale with his most famous pigeon “Mushy Pea’s” that beat Peters bird into second Open National, on that particular day.
“Mushy” had a formidable career, crossing the channel from Scotland into the South of Ireland on no less that eleven occasions, including three times Thurso and that I can assure you is no easy task.

He was bred from a combination of Delbar and Van der Esp, that Harry bought from Louella in the late seventies early eighties, and in Harry’s own words “the young lad of the Masserella’s “recommended them to me, saying that they were a great family of pigeons, so I took his advice and the rest as they say is history. “Mushy” died in 2000 at 17 years old, and as Harry said, he left me with some great memories and owing me nothing. Previous to that in 1978 Harry had clocked from Lerwick at over 570 miles to take 3rd open behind Tommy Walsh and the eventual winner Gerry Cervi of Dublin, when only four birds were clocked on the day. Harry to me, is one of those people that has always been around and involved in pigeons and pigeon racing, he is a hard worker for his club and has served as Secretary of the Eire National North Road Flying club for the last number of years, keeping it on its feet while the rest of us went off to try pastures new, thankfully when most of us saw the light and returned to North Road Racing there was still an Eire National there for us to fly in, thanks to the efforts of Harry and a few other stalwarts.

As a real live character, Harry is a hard act to follow, and I will only give you one of many examples, we were in Blackpool, mid-eighties it was, and over the weekend we had decided to go to one of the moots that were being held in the Park house Hotel, where a very distinguished guest from Belgium was due to appear, however, as usual we lost Harry in one of the bar’s along the way, but the rest of us proceeded on to the venue and secured a seat, the distinguished guest was standing inside the door, dressed to the nines, lovely black suit, Dickie Bow, the lot, waiting to be introduced onto the stage when Harry made a late entrance through the self same door taking off his trade mark full length leather jacket, as he came in, he took one look at our distinguishes guest, thinking of course that he was the doorman, and said, “ put this on a hanger somewhere for me Son” I’m late for the start of the moot, and left the poor guy standing there in bewilderment. Happy days they were.

Going back to that Second Open pied cock of peter’s, he came into my possession as a nine year old, and I kept him for two years, he had been retired to stock as a three year old and had bred some useful pigeons, he was never flown out for eight years, and yet when he escaped from my loft by accident as an eleven year old, he was back in his home loft in just over an hour, for the fifty mile journey. When I hear fanciers say nowadays that there birds may not be ready for the first race in a months time from say fifty/fifty five miles, it surely makes me smile, and I wonder if pigeons or is it pigeon fanciers are not what they used to be.

To finish, I will leave you with a few words and an old photo of one of the founding fathers of the Eire National North Road Flying club, Bobby Hore RIP. of Wexford, he started racing in the Wexford NRFC in 1947 and was the treasurer of that club for over 40 years. He won the old bird National from Ballycastle in 1950 and also won the young Bird National in 1954, his birds were a mix of Delbar, SP Griffiths, Frank Cheetams, and Sions. Later he introduced birds from Carl Bowe, and Marty Siggans Lerwick hen, but his best pigeon was called the “Volunteer” a Logan/Barker cock that was never out of the first six when racing. I had the privilege of knowing Bobby Hore, but unfortunately, not for long enough before he died, he was a gentleman of the highest order and was certainly a man to be looked up to and admired., he set an example for all that was good in pigeon racing.

I have just heard of the passing of another great ambassidore of the sport in Ireland, Angela Whitmore of Wexford, wife of the late Phil Whitmore, they were both tireless workers for the sport, right up to National Level. Sincere condolences to her family from her many fancier friends here in Carlow and further a field and may she rest in peace.

The usual contact will get me, Corcoran@alpinelofts.net
Punch


Hard working Secretary Harry Beale.


The late Bobby Hore, Wexford.