Earliest meeting: Monday 17th August 1752
Final meeting: Monday 4th June 1906
The town of Carrigaline, a single street town in County Cork, today entertains a population of nearly 15000, but back in the middle of the 18th century it was smaller and more rural.  Despite this it held race meetings which were organised by the South Union Hunt Committee; the first record of such a six day meeting being from Monday 17th to Saturday 22nd August 1752 when its results were included in the Historical list of Matches. The week long meeting was dominated by John Matthews and Arthur Hyde, with Matthews winning the £40 Plate, £50 Purse and £20 Purse with Creeping Kate, while Hyde’s Looby challenged for all of the prizes and eventually won the £50 Plate. Although meetings continued to be held intermittently, things did not always go smoothly and there was not always full support for the events from the locals. At the meeting on Tuesday 27th December 1881 the Draghunt Races, organised by the South Union Hunt Group, were held inspite of an attempt by Land Leaguers to boycott the meeting, holding an opposition meeting just a few miles away. Unfortunately tragedy struck at the Carrigaline meeting when jockey William Johnson was thrown at a fence and died from his injuries. The meeting on Thursday 26th December 1889 was held in fields owned by Mr Roberts of Kilcourse, just a quarter of a mile from Carrigaline, and was blessed with a special visitor. The famous English jockey Sam Loates was on holiday and acted as starter when the feature race, the Drag Hunt Steeplechase over 4 miles, saw The O’Donoghue beat Kitty Hastings and Humbug. As with many Irish courses at the turn of the century, attendances were down and the courses were being inspected more closely by the Irish Turf Club. Carrigaline was no exception and the final meeting took place on Monday 4th June 1906.

17th August 1752

Carrigaline £20 five & six year old Purse
1. Buddrowe, horse owned by Mr Cooley
2. Phoebe, bay mare owned by Arthur Hyde
3. Galtee Filly, bay mare owned by Robert Callaghan

18th August 1752

Carrigaline £40 Plate
1. Creeping Kate, mare owned by John Matthews
2. Unnamed mare owned by William Massey
3. Merry Andrew, gelding owned by Thomas Newenham

19th August 1752

Carrigaline £50 Plate
1. Looby, gelding owned by Arthur Hyde
2. Unnamed grey gelding owned by Philip Oliver
3. Silver Tail, gelding owned by Mr Daunt

20th August 1752

Carrigaline Sweepstake Match
1. Unnamed horse owned by Mr Murrough
2. Starling, bay horse owned by Mr Howard Gilmore
3. Unnamed sorrel gelding owned by Mr Rigg

21st August 1752

Carrigaline £50 Purse
1. Creeping Kate, bay mare owned by John Matthews
2. Looby, gelding owned by Arthur Hyde
3. Fox, sorrel gelding owned by Mr Dogherty

22nd August 1752

Carrigaline £20 Purse
1. Creeping Kate, bay mare owned by John Matthews
2. Unnamed mare owned by William Massey
3. Merry Andrew, gelding owned by Thomas Newenham

Much of the information about this course has been found using internet research and is in the public domain. However, useful research sources have been:-

London Illustrated News

Racing Illustrated 1895-1899

The Sporting & Dramatic Illustrated

Northern Turf History Volumes 1-4 by J.Fairfax-Blakeborough

The Sporting Magazine

A Long Time Gone by Chris Pitt first published in 1996 ISBN 0 900599 89 8

Racing Calendars which were first published in 1727

ISBN 978-0-9957632-0-3

652 pages

774 former courses

ISBN 978-0-9957632-1-0

352 pages

400 former courses

ISBN 978-0-9957632-2-7

180 pages

140 former courses

ISBN 978-0-9957632-3-4

264 pages

235 former courses