1924. ScHARFF — On the Breeds of Dogs Peculiar to Ireland. 91 



tioned.-* But where these manuscripts are to be found he 

 does not tell us. According to Dalziel, the existing bright 

 red breed of Irish Terrier is only fifty or sixty years old. 

 This would place its origin about the forties ; but Richardson 

 \M-ote in 1842 that the only kind of Terrier known in Ire- 

 land was the " harlequin " Terrier — a dog of a bluish slate 

 colour.^^ Others assert that Ballymena in the north and 

 Wicklow in the south both claim to be the birth-place 

 of the modern red breed, which does not seem to have been 

 exhibited before the year 1870. At that time it appears 

 there w^ere many strains in the country — all w^hites, yellows, 

 blacks, blues, brindles and reds. In the neighbourhood of 

 Killarney and Tralee was originally found a strain of Terrier 

 with a soft coat and of a lilac or silvery blue colour, which 

 may be the " harlequin " alluded to by Richardson. It 

 would thus appear as if the Irish Terrier was quite a modern 

 creation. But in the National Museum there is a dog's 

 skull from the crannog of Dunshaughlin in County Meath, 

 that is to say dating from about the loth century. 

 Prof. Studer, to whom a cast of this skull was sent, declares 

 that it agrees in its general characters with the ancient 

 turf -dog [Canis f. pahistris) . Although this dog in its pure 

 form is now extinct in Europe, it seems to have resembled 

 the Irish Terrier in many respects. We may conclude, 

 therefore, that the ancestors of the la^tter have probably 

 existed in Ireland since ver^^ remote times, and have been 

 brought by the early settlers long before the Christian era. 

 Gogan suggests madadh gaedhealach as a suitable Irish 

 name for this breed and madadh gorm for the blue variety. 



The Kerry Beagle. 



We know less about this breed than any other. The 

 text books do not allude to it at all except Richardson and 

 Dalziel. The former speaks of it as a fine, tall, dashing 

 hound averaging from 26 to 28 inches in height. It has 

 deep chops, broad and full pendulous ears, and when highly 



24 Shaw, Vero : The illustrated book of the Dog. London, 1883 — 1886. 



25 Dalziel, Hugh : " British Dogs." London, 3 vols., 2nd edition, 

 1889— 1897. 



A 2 



