Our Viscount

              Our Viscount born in '53 

Bred from my friend Paddy Dunphy's  The Grand Champion ex Wild Nellie.

I got this great dog from Mollie Colohan in Galway on Paddy's advice.  Unfortunately his promising career was limited by injury. The cause is mostly due to dangerous surfaces. They are often too firm in dry or frosty weather or too soft and slippery during heavy rainfall.
I find it depressing that many of  the fastest have short careers because the turns are just too acute.

 Mollie and Cecil, her husband, invited me to bring my Jane and family and
  spend a fortnight with them during the summer of  '57.  We thoroughly enjoyed our stay.  I remember the highlight being a day trip to the Aran Islands in Galway Bay.  Cecil took great pride in nursing our youngest lad, Simon.  The other two Walter and Warwick entertained all the passengers with a dance as an islander played an accordion.

I learned a lot about greyhounds from Paddy Dunphy. When travelling in the south of Ireland I often called on him when passing through Castlecomer.  His Grand Champion was popular at stud and attracted a lot of bitches.  Paddy often accepted a pair of pups from a litter instead of the fee.  There were times when I called on him and was invited to join him in visiting breeders who were rearing pups for him.  Sometimes we didn't get back until very late and Paddy would find a bed for me.

 In discussions I  advised him to bring one of his best dogs to England and enter it for the  Derby at White City.  This involved a stay of six weeks and had never been attempted before.   After much thought and planning  he brought over his The Grand Canal in 1962.   He had his food and drink sent over from Kilkenny every week.   He  stayed with the dog at the GRA Hook kennels and his pride and joy went into the record books as the winner of the English Derby.

Some of my oldest greyhound friends

Some of my oldest greyhound friends

One I would like to tell you about is John Doris. His parents came from Mayo and Sligo, and they emigrated to the states. He lived to be 102 and I don't remember anybody older.   He was born in Brooklyn  New York in 1903, and moved back to Longford with his parents when he grew up.   For his stamina he received congratulations from George Bush and of course Mary MacAleese, the president of Ireland.
He was a  very successful business man and among his interests was the promotion of greyhound racing at Longford  under the management of the popular Billy Bligh.   I got to know these  special characters through entering a greyhound at their track while Jane and I spent our first two years in Dublin.   ! well remember that enjoyable evening because Jane and our new born son Walter came with me.   We also had the company of Jim Fallon from Palmerstown - we met no better friend there .  To add to our enjoyment our dog was a winner.   We called him Wheatfield Atom - because  he weighed just 56 lbs.  That was just one of the eighteen races he ran in Ireland.   He was beaten only at Celtic and Dunmore where the  long  straights gave an advantage to opponents who were bigger.

Joe Booth & His Wife

This is the famous Joe Booth & His wife with one of their big winners during the eighties.

Joe always broke down in tears whenever one of his champions broke a hock.  

I first put a plaster on a hock for him in 1951 after a race at Dillington Park in Barnsley.

A Return Home

During my long life I have been fortunate to have had a number of real family friends.   In August 2015  I enjoyed being home in Donegal at a gathering which included many relatives.   Having the company of my Jane, our sons Warwick and Simon with his wife Lyn made it a really memorable week.   It was actually the second of such events. The first was organised ten years ago by enterprising members of the famous Doohan family from Drumnatinney in Donegal who had emigrated to New York for a better life. Warwick and I felt lucky to be invited to that original and unique week.  This recent one was equally enjoyable and it seems likely that it will not be the last.

The great family of fourteen were born to James from the Rosses and Maggie who was one of my Dad's sisters.  The one I knew best was called Bridget or Birdie because she wheeled me in my pram to the strand until I was a year old.

That strand, known as the Back Strand, with its sand dune banks, clean white sand, and fabulous views out to Tory Island, is still there, almost totally unchanged, near Drumnatinney where I was born. There is no building, no caravans, no cafe, and no shops. The only addition has been a life saving ring tied to a post.

My good Dad and Mama slaved and made many sacrifices to rear and educate my three younger brothers, two sisters and myself . Three months before I qualified from the Vet college the sudden death of our wonderful Dad was a bitter blow to our dear mother and every one of us.

Dad had been a life-long supporter of Britain, but he had a brother, a priest, who rarely agreed with him.  He called on us a few months after the war with Hitler started. British troops had sustained heavy losses and the holy one took pleasure in forecasting that the Swastika would soon be hanging in London. I still remember Dad grabbing his arm, pulling him off the chair and kicking him out the door onto the street.

At the time Dad died, Tony was on the Medical course at Trinity, Ted was at the Veterinary College, Owen was giving his life for the Church, and Eileen was also studying. Carmel was working in a chemist's shop so that she could earn enough to support the family. Mama decided that it made economic sense for her to buy a wee house in Dublin and move there where Carmel was working.

Whenever we went over to Donegal we often stayed with Mary and Danny in Cashelnagor. Danny would play wonderful music on his fiddle. We would also visit Packie and Veronica, Alfie and Pat, and Josie and Teresa.   It was hard to get out of any of these houses without refreshment to help us on our way.   Our Warwick, Simon, and his son Neil, enjoy spending time with the next generation, and are good friends with Seamus and Marie, and Denis. Jude has also been over in the last month.

On our way to Donegal we always pass through Dublin and visit Raoul in the nursing home. Tony and Bridie, who live in Celbridge, regularly visit him and we are very grateful to them for their love and care.

My Aunt Bella married Henry McGee, a brave sailor who often went out to fish in stormy seas in a small boat. Bella lived with her family in Knockduff. We always visited her daughter Mary, and her son Father Eugene from Glasgow would be over every summer.  Sadly they have both passed on but this year we called again and met Henry McGee and his wife Marie.   Near Knockduff is the wonderful Marble Hill strand, close to Port na Blagh where we sometimes stayed in the hotel years ago. When I was a small boy aged about four or five I used to go on holidays to my Aunt Rose Sharkey in the Rosses. I remember watching the trains pass the house on the way to Burtonport. In 1925 four unfortunate people were killed when the train to the Rosses was blown off the viaduct.  That story is often spoken about to this day.

In the old days we always used to call on our relative John the Saddler in Dunfanaghy. He was noted for giving news of all the relatives we used to know.

John McConnell and other good friends

One of the best friends I met in my life was John McConnell from county Meath.  John grew up with a sister and nine brothers at Mitchelstown between Kells and Ardee. I also knew two of his brothers Kevin and Dickie.  John told me that as a school boy he often drove cattle over the sixteen miles to the Dublin market.   In his teens he did farm work with horses and later with tractors.
When Jane and I settled in Rugby we were very lucky to  meet two other life-long friends.
They were  Bill Mannion and his good wife Nuala. Bill was from Roscommon and Nuala from Tyrone.    She was one of the distinguished Donnelly family of Lakeview House in Coagh.  Her sister
Ethna was a respected matron in Larne hospital and so was Eve in Northampton.  Another sister Creagh was married to John Black who was among the best helpers I met in the greyhound world. Her brother Brendan was a priest who served in Florida for twenty years and another brother Kevin operated a thriving nursery from their home.

Photo of Tony, me, Warwick, Jane, Raoul and Bridie

At a party in Dublin to celebrate Raoul's 80th birthday : - Tony Doohan, myself, our middle son Warwick, my dear wife Jane, my brother Raoul and Bridie Doohan.

I`m sure I have told you before that I had a brother who was a Priest.  His name was Owen Roland.  We called him Raoul.  Our Mamma was a devout Catholic.  I was the eldest of the family and I think she hoped I would be a Priest.  She was also disappointed when Tony became a Doctor and again when Ted followed me into the Veterinary college.  The happiest day of her life was the one when Owen became ordained.  When she stood up to speak at the celebration dinner she said "Firstly I wish to thank God for giving me two good girls and now one good son."  

Sadly Tony and Ted and our two wonderful sisters Carmel and Eileen are gone and Raoul is in a home in Dublin.  I am glad to say he has frequent visits from my cousin Tony Doohan and his loving wife Bridie. I have no better friends.  

Les Fowler

I would like to write a few lines to a couple of my oldest friends in the greyhound world because we are the same age and therefore I can imagine how they may be feeling ... probably tired but hopefully cheerful and on the way to being  energetic again after a few hours of sound sleep and rest.  
My thoughts are with  Les and Gwen Fowler of Luton who were equally kind to their dogs whether they were winners or losers.

This is Les wearing his uniform and medals on a Remembrance Day commemorating his five years' service in the desert with Field Marshal Montgomery.