GUNDOG BREEDS

Irish Red and White Setters

• Barbet

• Clumber Spaniel

• Irish Red and White Setter

We would like to thank Patricia Haddrell for this unusual photograph of her lovely young Irish Red and White Setter 'Ray' retrieving a dummy.  You can see more photos of four year old Ray in the photo gallery.  We should mention at this point that it is important you take advice on training if you intend to trial your Irish Red and White Setter, retrieving is not required or permitted in Setter and Pointer field trials.

Thanks also to Muriel Iles of the Southern Society for Irish Red and White Setters for  permission to reproduce the information below.

To visit the Society's website click here

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A Short History of the Breed

The Irish Red and White Setter is a very ancient, native breed of Ireland, it's origins going back to the Spanish Pointer, to the days of the Tudors, if oil paintings of the time are to be believed. 

Until the  middle of the 19th century, they were used for finding and raising game and like so many breeds were bred only for their usefulness. During the latter part of the 19th Century and, with interest from America for a whole red dog, the Irish breeders set to and by selective breeding bred out the white and in so doing changed the breed from one of substance to the racy dog we know today as the Irish Red Setter.

The Irish Red and White Setter was nearly extinct at the beginning of the 20th Centrury.  There were only a few left on farms in Ireland and two enthusiasts  The Reverend Houston and Dr Elliott, returning from the First World War, set about re-establishing the breed in Ireland as shooting companions.

After the Second World War, history repeated itself and, at this time, it was a woman, Mrs Cuddy a student at Dublin University, who with the help of Canon Patrick Doherty, saved the breed.  Again, it was for their usefulness in the field.

At the beginning of the 1980s Irish Setter breeders in England became interested in Red and Whites and started to breed and show them. At the time, the Irish breeders could not agree amongst themselves on a Breed Standard and the English Kennel Club took the initiative by introducing a Standard which was later accepted by the Irish Kennel Club with two amendments to include size and coat colour

Through dedication to its breeding, the Irish Red and White Setter continues to give companionship in the home, in the field and in the show ring, the world over.

Muriel Iles

Chairman

The Southern Society for Irish Red and White Setters

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