A Brief History of Kildare Hunt Club

by David Mongey Chairman of Punchestown

It is recorded that the first steeplechase is said to have been the result of a wager in 1752 between Cornelius O’Callaghan and Edmund Blake, racing four miles over natural countryside from St. John’s Church, Bullevant and St. Mary’s Church Doneraile.

Through a finding in the National Library of the original members’s rule book of 1752, we can confirm it was in the same year that the Kildare Hunt Club was founded. Almost a century later in 1850 Punchestown became the official home of the Kildare National Hunt races known today as the Irish National Hunt Festival. Further records show that racing in Kildare, organised by the Kildare Hunt Club began in 1824; so what happened in the intervening time between then and the establishment of Punchestown as the home of Irish jump racing in 1850.

Exact information to early racing in Kildare is very scarce but it was the custom of the hunt members to organise race meetings for the gentleman farmers and army officers based at the Curragh, Newbridge, Kildare and Naas to indulge their taste for riding over typical Kildare country.

These racing meeting were held in various locations around the country. I found records of races held at Rathgorragh, just south of Kill Hill described as ‘an excellent course’. Further research showed other meetings were held at Kilcock, Corbally Harbour, Furness Wood, Rathcoole and Back Lane Naas. The local press described the meeting in Naas favourably saying, “The course has been considerably improved since last year. ‘Tis situated about a half a mile outside the town at the back of the ruins of Jigginstown Castle, a little of the Newbridge Road. ‘This about a mile and a quarter in circumference and from the central elevation of the ground even the pedestrian could see the race all around”

In 1837, as the local hunt races developed and the popularity of the sport increased within the local community, the much-coveted Kildare Hunt Cup was presented for a race of two miles over ‘sporting country’. It was won by a horse named Zephyr owned and ridden by a Mr. Lynch. The Hunt Cup currently resides in the National Museum at Collins Barracks, and it is the intention of Hunt Club to commission a replica trophy cup and present it at the National Hunt Festival in 2024 to mark the anniversary.

Another popular race in the same year was the Ponsonby Bowl, which was presented, in trust, by Frederick Ponsonby of Bishopscourt to Sir John Kennedy. The Ponsonby Bowl was a challenge cup for farmers and is a pre-curser to the Bishopscourt Cup, otherwise known locally as the “Farmers Race”.

As we approach 2024, preparations are underway to mark the 200th anniversary of the establishment of the Kildare National Hunt Races. From relatively humble beginnings involving only a handful of participants, to what has become Ireland’s premier jump racing celebration, the essence remains the same. At the core of the Kildare Hunt races and indeed its progression into the Punchestown Festival that we know today, is the appreciation and recognition of the Irish affiliation with the horse, the countryside and the rich heritage from which it has evolved. The Kildare Hunt Club and its members are proud custodians of this wonderful history.