The 86^th National Coursing Meeting Festival will take place at Powerstown Park Racecourse, Clonmel, Co Tipperary on Monday 31^st Jan, Tuesday 1^st Feb and Wednesday 2^nd Feb 2011. This colourful and unique sporting occasion will once again bring thousands of visitors to Clonmel from all over Ireland and the UK. Year in year out it also attracts tourists from other parts of Europe, the USA, Australia and the Middle East.

The Irish Coursing Club was founded in 1916 and has it’s headquaters in Clonmel. The first National Coursing Meeting was held at Powerstown Park in 1925. The Derby and Oaks were introduced to the programme of events in 1930. Nowadays greyhounds compete over the three days of the National Coursing Meeting for prizemoney of almost €200,000. Greyhounds are muzzled since 1993.

From late September to early January, owners and trainers run their greyhounds in ‘Trial Stakes’ the length and breadth of the country in an attempt to qualify them for the National Coursing Meeting. The dream of every coursing enthusiast is to have a runner at the Clonmel festival, ‘the Cheltenham of coursing’.

For 85 years now the local Clonmel coursing club have been involved in preparing the venue and looking after the husbandry of the hares for the National Coursing Meeting. All on a voluntary basis. New Year’s Day is traditionally the day that the countdown to the festival begins but the running surface and the hare enclosures require attention all year around.  

From Saturday 29^th January 2011 the crowds will start to gather in the town and enjoy the night life and the many restaurants that Clonmel has to offer. The sport will begin with an Open Coursing Meeting just outside Clonmel on the Sunday morning, Greyhound racing will take place at the Davis Road Greyhound Stadium from Sunday night through to Thursday night and a Horse Race meeting takes place in Clonmel on the Thursday afternoon. However the unquestionable highlight is the three day National Coursing Meeting at Powerstown Park and there is very little in Irish sport to surpass the atmosphere on Finals Day (Wednesday). Recently one well known Sunday newspaper journalist even included it in his ‘Top 10 Sporting events you must go see before you die’. See it for yourself in 2011.  

For further information check www.irishcoursingclub.ie or contact Eugene (E-Mail) eugene@sportingpress.ie  (Tel) 052 6188501.