Irish Racing has a personality and atmosphere not found anywhere else in the world. This is especially true at the racing festivals which are the highlights of the racing season from Easter through to December.
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The Festival season starts in style with the Easter Irish Grand National Festival at Fairyhouse Racecourse, just outside Dublin. Munster hosts its own exciting Easter Festival in the heart of Steeplechasing country at Cork Racecourse in Mallow. The crowds who throng these meetings every year move on just two weeks later to the Irish National Hunt Festival at Punchestown, in Co Kildare, the Thoroughbred County. This is Ireland’s Cheltenham and like its Cotswold’s counterpart its loyal followers spend a year in wistful anticipation of the next festival as soon as this one has ended.
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The month of May brings the first of the summer Classics at the home of flat racing in Ireland - The Curragh. The two-day meeting of the Irish 2,000 and 1,000 Guineas attracts the top European thoroughbreds, along with their human connections. The Co Kildare course is also a magnet for the local population – probably the most racing-literate people in the world, together with a cosmopolitan and eclectic mix of racegoers and socialisers from the city.
The biggest Flat racing event of the year - The Dubai Duty Free Irish Derby Festival weekend falls at the end of June. Take the world’s top thoroughbreds, the international entourage, the racegoers and socialisers listed above, multiply by ten and add the biggest day-long party in the country and you have the essential flavour of the Derby weekend in Ireland.
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In July the scenery and the pace changes dramatically with the Killarney five-day festival. The course is discreetly placed between the town and the lakes and enjoys the most picturesque setting in Ireland, where locals and tourists mingle to enjoy the races.
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It used to be said that the Galway Racing Festival brought the city of Galway to halt, now it brings the entire county to a halt. Whereas the Derby Festival is a one-day extravaganza, Galway at the end of July hosts a week-long celebration, which spills out of the racecourse to fill the city and county alike. If you are anywhere within 30 miles of Galway, then you are “at the races” - if not, you’ll be watching or reading about it and wishing you were there.
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In August racing moves to the beautiful seaside setting of Tramore for four days of racing in a wonderful holiday atmosphere.
In September we go to Kerry for the marvellous seven-day Listowel Harvest Festival. The end of an ideal Kerry summer: the hay is saved; the football team is on its way to Croke Park and the town and country people are ready to pour into Listowel to enjoy this great race meeting and its traditional atmosphere.
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In October the two-day Gowran Park meeting near Kilkenny is a welcome reminder of the sport that has been had all summer long, while we pause in anticipation of the great Christmas racing festivals at Leopardstown and Limerick Racecourses. Each year record crowds turn up for the Christmas and New Year meetings - not so much a close of the year past, as a thrilling curtain-raiser to the coming season and the promise of even greater Festival fun.