IN PICTURES: Landmark 100th National Coursing Meeting takes place in Tipperary

“That’s that for another year,” an elder statesman said to me in small talk as we both left Clonmel as it buzzed with excitement over the February Bank Holiday weekend, as crowds flocked to Powerstown Park Racecourse, the Colosseum of coursing, some might say, for the landmark 100th National Coursing Meeting, which ran from Saturday to Monday.

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The car park itself was a hive of activity, with cars and buses registered from British, Kerry, Galway, Cork, Kilkenny, Longford and Limerick, with some people from Derry saying they left at 5:30 this morning for the six-hour trip.

Walking into the ground, you were meeting with the main sponsors, Boyle Sports, who were giving away bobble woolly hats, advertising at its finest, as every third person you saw was wandering around with the light blue hat to keep out the cold snap.

To get the best views in the house, you would have had to pay five euros to get into the stand or be like some punters who had the game plan sorted before even going, as they had the wristband to flash to the security guard, the real VIP experience.

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The call of the stewart who was wearing formal outfit with his red blazing jacket all while being on a horse was the main adjudicator determining who was the winner by simply raising a red or white cloth to resemble the collar of the dog which was then followed swiftly by the announcer giving the name of the dog which could range from Rush Bella, Blades of Dreams, Choctaw Queen, Cujo, Marvelous Melody, Homestead Callie and Tell on Fairy just to name a few.

The close races and the result themselves of the victorious dog was met with a cheer followed swiftly by the shouts of the small bookmakers giving last minute odds for the next race varying from evens to six to one the one they had a few bucks on, as betting slips were flung to the ground or kept sacred until the big or small amount of cash was collected from either a one-off race or a big odds accumulator.

“That’s the bank holiday beer sorted now,” one big winner said, as ending his dry January spell probably wasn't a thought that occurred to his mind as he went to collect his, I assume, big bucks.

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Speaking of money, there were definitely big dollars on offer as the winner of ‘The Horse & Jockey Oaks’ and ‘The Boyle Sport Derby’ would get €50,000 while the runners up would pocket €12,000, not a bad day's work if I say so myself.

While some punters were worrying about which pub they were attending, others were thinking long term and investing in the future as a sapling (dogs aged between 12 and 18 months) sale took place on the Bank Holiday Monday, as the buzz to find the next big thing was nearly as chaotic and loud as the big race, with bidding wars taking place.

From late September 2025 until just before the event, coursing clubs around the country held practice races and competitions for all ages. Greyhounds raced to earn a spot at the National Coursing Meeting, the biggest event of the year for owners and trainers.

You can see the nail-biting of trainers from afar and could cut the tension with a butter knife as they wanted to see their own dog perform well and fight another day if the desired result goes their way that was a bonus the well being of the animal was the number one priority as you could just feel the love for the dogs as they were treated like members of the royal family.

For people with a lack of knowledge on coursing, the best way to describe it in another sporting term would be a team qualifying for the World Cup in soccer, the pinnacle where all the elite compete to be crowned the best of the best, minus the cash grab from a certain president (I’m looking at you, Gianni Infantino)

Some dogs and trainers are small and lacking firepower, like minnows, Cape Verde, who are just happy to be here, soaking in the atmosphere, the cheers from the crowd as the race is nip and tuck, and if they get a result, it would go down as a shock in the history books.

Or there are dogs and trainers who are strong favourites, like France, who have the final booked off in their calendar with a few months and are just waiting to collect the trophy; anything less than a win is considered failure, so you can feel the tension.

If you want more sporting reference to compare to coursing, the losers entered a Tailteann Cup-like race for the losing dogs that failed to get the win and fell at the first hurdle.

The roar of the crowd was deafening as the race began, the dogs taking the field to battle it out, their paws digging into the damp grass beneath a slate-grey sky, with the glimpses of the sun trying to break through.

And you can’t say they're slow either, as blistering paces of twelve seconds, and it was down to milliseconds determining who’d be the winner.

It can’t go without mentioning that the annual National Coursing Meeting delivers a welcome economic boost to Clonmel and its neighbouring areas.

With crowds filling the towns, local hotels/bed and breakfasts, restaurants, and pubs are seeing a surge in business from people either drowning sorrows for the one that got away or going on celebration sessions right into the night and early hours of the next morning.

If you’re looking for something to do on the February bank holiday weekend in 2027, then the National Coursing Meeting should be one to tick off the unique sporting bucket list as you could meet anyone from near and far with the hurling banter slagging was mighty depending on what county item of clothing people were wearing you’d have to give a special shoutout to the dedicated Cork supporters who entered enemy lines or just the local punter young or old who were looking to pass the day and weekend with a national meeting it certainly didn’t fail to disappoint.

However, it should also be noted that, as it has been a matter raised nationally over the years, there were murmurs of disapproval as protesters gathered outside the premises of Powerstown Park Racecourse for two matters: the welfare of the hares and the greyhounds themselves, with the honk of a vehicle horn if you supported the cause to end all this racing as we left the car park.
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