Geoff Brennan remembers that the Balleen races began in 1934. A couple of years before that the races had been held in Adamstown. The races were organised by the Kilkenny Hunt before the North Kilkenny hunt was founded.
Gerry and Pake Bergin have told us that some of their land was used for the races. They were held on Easter Monday but before that they were just held sometime around Easter. Huge crowds came to the races, even during the War Years and there were also all kinds of "trick-o-the-loops" and entertainers.
Joe Nolan remembers a man, stripped to the waist, who broke about a dozen glass bottles, and lay down on the glass. He then asked the crowd for the biggest man in the crowd to stand on his chest. The man that came was "Big Ned Campion". Geoff Brennan also remembers another character called "Killarney" who would entertain the crowd by balancing a wheel off a horses' cart on his chin. When these people were finished their acts, they would make a few shillings by passing around their hats.
Other people that came were fruit sellers from Dublin and some of them would sell race cards for a shilling each. A trick some of the fruit sellers would do was to buy about 30 race cards for £1. Then, when they were paying, they would try to fool the committee members by tearing a pound note in half, then rolling it up and giving it to them. Sometimes if they were lucky, they would get 60 cards for £1.
Geoff also remembers when the cards were kept in an "Office". (Maher's Sawmills
had built a wooden rostrum for the judges and underneath they made a wooden
office of planks). At one stage, they discovered that some people had removed
some planks and were trying to steal the cards.
Geoff remembers a very good horse called "Vanguard II", owned by Murphys of Ballyconra and another horse called "Smiling Marcus". At another meeting this horse was run under a different name and there was a court case about it. Geoff and Mick Grace remember that Frank Fitzgerald of Ballyconra won up to four races on the same day.
By 1949 the races were being held each year on Easter Monday. There was a race dance that night in Ballyragget Hall.
This is the cover of the race card from the Balleen Races of Thursday, April 16th 1936. the race card cost one shilling. There were five races on the card.
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