Malachy & Mark Maguire - Newry

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willie reynolds
Posts: 6785
Joined: Sun Nov 09, 2008 4:44 pm

Malachy & Mark Maguire - Newry

Post by willie reynolds »

The great success from the Kings Cup Plaudren when many day arrivals were recorded giving us one of the best ever races no doubt influenced the entry for the Friendship Nat, just for one moment we were led into thinking this racing out of France was not so difficult at all. Just over 1,000 birds were race marked for Picauville, due to a film being done we only had the use of the side shed, a bit tighter that usual but the job was managed in the usual dedicated way. Not just as many helpers but with the expected smaller entry enough to get the job done. The small transporter was on site early and the larger than usual crates were set up for the ring marking. Due to pressure on the space the filled crates were not leaded until the ringing was complete, just a few short minutes and the transporter was filled and ready to go. Liberation was as planned on Friday 10th July at 6.00am, and birds were expected on the day from what was regarded as a middle distance race. It turned out a long wait and still no birds after 12 hours, confidence was getting high in Newry for M Maguire & Son were getting the race they were looking for. At 8.39pm not only did they get one bird but two arrivals together and they took 1st & 2nd Open INFC both doing velocity 911 for the 393 miles. Just 8 day birds were confirmed in total from Picauville and with good conditions in the early part of Saturday more birds should have been recorded, although down the country was not as good. On the first day the race closed at 22.50hrs to re-open Saturday at 4.50am. We all know now the final total for the three days was just 22 gallant arrivals, some others made home over the next number of days.

Hard to know what the problem was, it did look like the big band of rain that swept across the lower part of Ireland and on across the Irish Sea and on to the mainland did the damage. The weather this season has been almost impossible, for the Kings Cup the weather changed for the better over the course of the race while from Picauville it appeared the big band of heavy rain was impossible to get around. I am no expert on either the weather or related websites but I did notice a very good weather display on the popular Met Eireann, a site all the local fancy should be watching. It certainly put racing from France back in perspective; we nearly got carried away with the highly successful Kings Cup. The Friendship Nat was sponsored by Versele-Laga and the three top cups for competition will be won by M Maguire & Son from the Millvale club in Newry. The Friendship Cup for 1st Open INFC, British Barcelona Cup for race runner-up and the Henry Beattie & Son Trophy for the Best 2 Bird Average.

Malachy Maguire & Son (Millvale) - 1st & 2nd Open, Vel 911, 911 plus £1,955

What more can you say about this outstanding Newry Loft. Malachy and Mark Maguire have continually shown over recent years what distance racing is all about, surprisingly this is the lofts first National Success flying with the INFC, having already enjoyed National winning success with the NIPA, including winning the Yearling Hens National as well as Mark winning the O/Bird National last year to name just a couple of their extensive CV of success especially at the distance. They are without any doubt one of the leading lofts around Ireland at this present time when it comes to the challenging cross channel events especially those flown from France.

With only 22 pigeons recorded in race time, what an achievement to record 1st and 2nd Open with literally only seconds separating both pigeons, which was down to the order of trapping via the ETS, as both pigeons came together battling it out, some say it is possible they stayed together from the off right back to the loft in Newry, as if both pigeons knew each other which is a great possibility when you learn that they are flying to nest boxes beside each other.

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There has to be a 1st Open winner among them and the honour falls to "Newry Queen" a National win that Malachy has dedicated to his wonderful wife who many in the area will know is named the "Queen". The National winner a two year old Blue Hen was timed at 6.39pm recording a velocity of 911ypm flying 393 miles to the lofts that over look Newry City. This hen was sent to the race in theory sitting 16 days, but a couple of days prior to basketing Malachy slipped the hen a chipping egg and once a few hours hatched the youngster was swapped for a 3 - 4 day old youngster just before basketing. This was the hens first eggs of the year, something that Malachy believes very highly on is motivation and he has a tendency not to breed from his hens for maybe two or three years keeping this area of motivation for the ultimate challenge that he has pencilled in for certain pigeons. What more Motivation does a pigeon require than this. The breeding is once a gain centred on the fantastic "Home Alone" winner of the Fourges smash for Malachy in 2002. What a pigeon this is and a more detailed report on Malachy's successful family will be covered by Adie in a loft profile he is doing for the BHW Stud Book, so keep an eye for that. Also in the National winners pedigree is the Kings Cup winning Bloodlines of David Black of Dromore.

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The 2nd Open pigeon which was as equal a National winner to the above pigeon was also timed at 6.39pm once again yet another Blue Hen this one was a 3 year old and prepared in the exact same way and this one once again has the fantastic "Home Alone" in the pedigree the National winner is a Double Granddaughter and this one is a direct Daughter of "Home Alone", responsible now for well over 35 first prize winners at various levels of competition including 1st National. “Lady Rose” was named after Malachy's late mother who always knew he was destined to winner an Irish National. Both pigeons were trained hard prior to the race with a few single tosses in all weathers from a distance of 60 miles. A very worthy National winning loft and a huge following is likely at the National Dinner to celebrate this National success for a very much admired father and son partnership. Thanks to Adie for this feature.

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The Maguire Empire!!

Submitting an article to be included and published in any Stud Book is a great honour, for now and in many years to come the following article will be read by fanciers all around the world, including without any doubt a number of novices interested in starting the hobby of racing pigeons.

As much as it is an honour to have an article published, the privilege must lie with being asked by a National winning loft to submit an article on their behalf. That said loft is that of Malachy and son Mark Maguire of Newry, Co Down in Northern Ireland who I have to whole heartily admit set the bench mark that many should aspire to be, firstly in their approach to the hobby of pigeon racing and secondly their desire and un-quivering commitment to succeed in everything they do, but at the same time offering unrelenting congratulations and appreciation to the many winners they meet along the way. They are in my eyes the highest example of what the sport of pigeon racing is all about.

The request from Malachy and son Mark came following National success in the Irish National Flying Club Friendship National event flown from Picauville, an historic occasion it turned out to be in more than one front, for this was to be the first INFC National success for the Maguire Loft, many like myself will be astounded when reading that stat. Secondly the entry, birdage wise to the race was the second highest in the history of the event and thirdly Malachy and son Mark timed two Blue hens together to record 1st and 2nd National on 911ypm flying 393 miles with only 22 birds home in race time.

With Malachy and son Mark I could write for a life time and I would still feel the depth and caliber of just not them as fanciers but the family of pigeons would still not have gained the recognition that they so rightfully deserve. You get that feeling very few times when compiling loft profiles, the class and substance is just too great to quantify into words. Realistically you are looking at one of the greatest racing lofts currently in Ireland, and I don’t make that statement lightly.

Getting back to the task at hand and that being 1st INFC Friendship National, getting and recording two pigeons together is a rare occurrence in such a difficult race remember only 22 in race time (3 Days) but there has to be a winner and with the assistance of Unikon ETS the winner was "Newry Queen" a National win that Malachy has dedicated to his wonderful wife who he duly calls his "Queen" and a wonderful lady she is. The National winner a two year old Blue Hen was timed at 6.39pm flying to the spacious and immaculately maintained lofts that over look Newry City. This hen was sent to the race in theory sitting 16 days, but a couple of days prior to basketing Malachy slipped the hen a chipping egg and once a few hours hatched the youngster was swapped for a 3 - 4 day old youngster just before basketing. This was the hens first eggs of the year, something that Malachy believes very highly on is motivation and he has a tendency not to breed from his hens for maybe two or three years keeping this area of motivation for the ultimate challenge that he has pencilled in for certain pigeons. What more Motivation does a pigeon require than this? The breeding is once again centred on the fantastic "Home Alone" and for those of you who are unaware of “Home Alone” the following will give you a bit of an insight.

In the year 2000 flying with the mighty NIPA ‘Home Alone’ finished 2000 - 1st Club, 1st Combine, 1st Sect G & 29th Open NIPA Tramore with 1,497 members sending 23,767 doing velocity 1686ypm. Going onto Sartilly the NIPA O/Bird Derby now named National this came pigeon flying as a yearling finished 1st Club, 1st Comb, 3rd Sect G & 29th Open NIPA with 618 members sending 1,511 pigeons recording a velocity of 952ypm. 2001 seen this Ace cock competing in the Rosscarbery OB Inland Derby finishing 1st Club, 3rd Comb, 25th Sect G & 167th Open NIPA with 1,185 members sending 9,074 recording a velocity of 1115ypm. Then the Jackpot was to be claimed the following year in 2002 from the O/Bird NIPA Derby this time flown from Fougeres where ‘Home Alone’ finished 1st Club, 1st Comb, 1st Sect G & 1st Open 544 members sending 1,314 of their best doing a velocity of 874ypm. ‘Home Alone’ reference the name, being the only bird on the day flying 15 & ½ hours to the loft with just 14 birds recorded in race time (3 days).

Since that race quite rightly so this Ace Pigeon has been in the stock loft and if you thought his racing record beggared belief, his breeding record is far beyond that as this National success from Picauville would clarify. He is responsible for no less than 36 x 1st prize winners at every level right through to National level and the majority of that time up till her death was paired to another outstanding pigeon named ‘Portavogie Lass’ a winner of 1st Open EDC Dinard in 1996 for Palmer & Young of Portavogie. Not only was this pigeon the only bird on the day from Dinard in 1996 but went on to beat some 5,000 other hopefuls in winning the much sought after Millar Gold Cup that particular year. Malachy was to later purchase that said hen from the Palmer & Young partnership and upon her death, Malachy had a plaque made in memory of the Champion that she was which included a W/F that the famous hen always carried and this was duly presented to Mrs Palmer in memory of what Malachy described as one of the best pigeons he has ever had the joy to own. You can talk about Goldmine Pairs, but Portavogie Lass mated to ‘Home Alone’ was the highest level of Carat Gold you could ever have, quite simply awesome as is the stock pigeons coming down from their direct off spring an ‘Empire’ to be precise. Must also mention at this stage how impressed Malachy and Mark are with the pigeons sourced from the Former Kings Cupwinning loft of David Black & Sons of Dromore with one of these also in the National winning pedigree.

The 2nd Open pigeon which was as equal a National winner to the above pigeon was also timed at 6.39pm once again yet another Blue hen this one was a 3 year old and prepared in the exact same way, and this one once again has the fantastic "Home Alone" in the pedigree, the National winner “Newry Queen” is a Double Granddaughter and this one finishing 2nd Open is a direct daughter need I say anymore. Only that the Maguire family now have 18 direct at stock off “Home Alone” a very wise move. I don’t know about them but I am already looking forward to the INFC Annual Dinner to here the roar go up for Malachy & Mark when called to lift four cups won that are connected to their achievement in the Friendship National they are the Friendship Cup for 1st Open, British Barcelona Trophy for 2nd Open, H Beattie & Son Trophy for Best 2 Bird Average and finally for now the Irvine Cup for Best Ave Kings Cup (13th Open) and Picauville.

Malachy has been involved with pigeons for over 50 years now, with the assistance of son Mark who also races on his own with lets just say magical success, for instance in 2008 he won the NIPA O/Bird National from St. Malo with a Mealy hen gifted to Mark by his father and only over the last few weeks I visited the father and son team and when on my own with Mark he was telling me that his father only has ever gifted him one pair of pigeons since starting up on his own, he told me that his father produced this pair one night as he was leaving the garden and Malachy told him to look after them as they would do the business, how right he was for the Mealy hen winner of 1st National St. Malo was one of the two youngsters gifted to Mark from his father that night. That very pigeon was also bred direct from “Portavogie Lass” when paired to a Red cock from long time friend Dave Goddard of Reading.

Now I would understand you the reader if your saying to yourself yea lucky result, how wrong you would be, simply here we have an exceptional pigeon man for in 2008 you also have to consider that Mark Maguire recorded in a three week period flying with the mighty NIPA the following from Roscrea 1st and 2nd Section G, 2,606 pigeons going on to finish 1st and 2nd Open against 26,568 pigeons; then the following week 1st & 2nd Section G NIPA Tullamore 1,407 pigeons finishing 1st and 2nd Open NIPA 15,941 pigeons and to complete a hat-trick of outstanding performances 2nd & 3rd Section G NIPA 2,442 birds finishing 2nd & 3rd Open NIPA against 23,203 pigeons from Pilmore Beach.

The families of pigeons owned by Malachy, are some what of a mixture but with great emphases put into the distance aspect of racing when selecting any stock. Malachy admits the distance racing is easier managed and he gets greater joy from seeing them return from an ultimate test.

The stock over the years have seen an amalgamation from a few very good sources these include John & Jean Hollinger (a loft profile on this husband and wife team can be found on http://www.pigeonnetwork.com) Dave Delea of Essex, the great Gerald Delaney of Dromore (stock that produced Malachys NIPA Yearling National winner), Dean Pallatt, Sandy Bain from Duns in Berwickshire, Dave Goddard of Reading and last but by no means least Van Geels from Louella, these pigeons have been an inspiration to the Maguires set up and Malachy can not thank the Masserella’s enough for the excellent pigeons that he has obtained from them over the years.

The father and son team race around 28 pigeons each week, these are made up from the Widowhood and Roundabout teams, with greater attention to detail placed on the selecting of the team once the racing season has reached Penzance in Cornwall, then the would move more onto the pigeons that have specifically been set aside for the further flying tests. These are mostly paired pigeons that ideally will always see the transporter when sitting on a early hatched chick this being the preferred nesting condition, these pigeons would be mated around the middle of March, would then sit on dud eggs the first time around and then would be encouraged to re-mate this time sitting the full time on the real eggs, this normally ties in nicely to the racers that they are required for.

Training can be a nightmare especially with the Hawk activity in Newry, but they would like to have them up the road as often as possible from around the 60 mile mark, they are kept fit but not over worked, again flying around the lofts can have its hazards also, again it is very much dependant on what is in the skies above the lofts, with the Maguires fabulous set up sitting nicely on the hill over-looking Newry it makes easy meat for the BOP. With working the pigeons hard they are fed as much within reason as they want, but as with many of the excellent fanciers they always state that good healthy pigeons will never over eat, and some times food could be removed for an extended time to make sure they have a sizable meal before any extreme distance channel race that they may be competing in. An excellent array of Minerals, Pick Stones and Grit are available at all times with Garlic Gloves added to the water twice per week with Cider Vinegar is added to the water this being once per week. Every pigeon at the Maguires will get a treatment pre season for Canker, Worms and Coccidiosis, they are very much against mixing anything else with the pigeons in the form of supplements or medicines, they think this has only helped the pigeon family that they have grafted over the last few years as they have never had any periods of sickness either with young or old.

The 80 or so Y/Birds reared will be raced on the Darkness System, when I say raced only around 30 of these will see the racing season with the remainder just trained up, this is a very common thing with the Maguire’s only training youngsters, it obviously works for their NIPA Yearling Hens National Winner never seen the transport as a youngster only being tossed up to 70 miles.

The lofts are spacious and are immaculate from the corner of the roof to the corner of the floor, regardless when you call it’s no different, a true credit to Malachy and Mark. The lofts are all of wooden structure with tiled roofs the Roundabout one is the largest in the garden measuring a whopping 40ft x 12ft two storey. The Y/B Darkness loft is 30ft x 12ft, the Widowhood loft is 18ft x 12ft and finally the Stock loft with fitted aviaries measures 20 ft x 10ft.

The Maguire family don’t sell pigeons full stop, they have a lot of time for novices and Malachy thinks any experienced fancier for the good of the sport should always make time for new starts who have a lot of questions needing honestly answered, as for new people coming into the sport he would recommend firstly picking what type of a pigeon your looking to race sprint or distance, then select a fancier doing well in that particular field and try and buy as close to the winning tree as possible, but most importantly don’t neglect the lofts, strict hygiene standards are a must, with the concept being if its not good enough for you to live in its not good enough for the pigeons to live in.

As I submit this article to the Stud book we are entering the period of Y/Bird Nationals with the INFC, with four cups already in the bag, could this be the year for the Maguire family, personally I can not praise them enough and until you have had the honour and privilege of spending just minutes with them you will know exactly where I am coming from. On that note I will pen off by wishing them including the ‘Queen’ of the house an enjoyable end to the 2009 season and I look very much forward to seeing them at the INFC Dinner in November.

Adie McCormick
Ireland’s Own Pigeon Auctions
http://www.pigeonnetwork.com
Email celestiallofts@aol.com

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The top Newry partnership of Malachy Maguire and son Mark.

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