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| YESTERDAY |
The Siamese Cat Club, which was founded in Dublin in 1953, was the first cat club in Ireland. At that time, an Irish lady, by name Kathleen Williams, was a famous breeder and judge of Siamese in Great Britain. Her very well known Prefix "Doneraile" will be found in the early Siamese pedigrees. This lady gave great encouragement to those founding the Irish club and to this day there is a Doneraile Trophy awarded each year. Mrs. Billie Macdougald and Mrs. Jill Coyne were very enthusiastic founder members.
The first show was held in the Mansion House, and Mrs. Kathleen Williams came to judge the exhibits. Subsequent shows were held in the Engineers Hall and the Molesworth Hall. The club maintained a register for Siamese cats and in those early days only Siamese were registered. In 1968 the Governing Council of the Cat Fancy came into being and performed the same function for cats as the Kennel Club does for dogs. The new body took over registrations and gradually breeds other than Siamese began to make an appearance and had to be registered.
To enable shows to cater for the emerging breeds the club name was changed to Siamese & All Breeds Cat Club of Ireland. Clubs were affiliated to the GCCFI and that body granted licences for shows under strict guide lines. For the first time it was possible for cats to compete for challenge certificates at championship shows and, having won three under three different judges, to be titled "Champion" or, in the case of neutered cats, "Premier".
In the late 60's the annual show moved from the Molesworth Hall to the Supper Room in the Mansion House and the entries increased year by year. Judges from Great Britain were invited to the shows which added to the interest for exhibitors. During the mid 70's and into the 80's the shows were held in the Royal Dublin Society and these were good years, with entries reaching almost 200 in number. In the early 90's the show returned to the Mansion House and occupied both the Round Room for the pedigree exhibits and the Supper Room for a large non-pedigree section. The Mansion House continued to be the venue until it closed for rennovation. In the following years the show moved to various local venues including Knocklyon, Templeogue, Ballinteer and Dun Laoire.
TODAY
Sad
to say, despite the affluence which the Celtic Tiger has brought to the country,
interest in showing cats has decreased and entries are now at an all time low.
This is despite the hard work of dedicated members who strive to keep interest
alive. As well as the annual show, the Club produces a Newsletter for members
two or three times a year and endeavours to hold some social and educational
functions.
If you would like to support us by joining our club, we would be delighted to hear from you. Please click here for an Application Form, which can be filled out online, and printed for return to the Membership Secretary at the address on the form.