The Irish Greyhound Derby held at

Shelbourne Park Shelbourne Park is a greyhound racing stadium in the south Dublin inner city suburb of Ringsend. Greyhound Racing Opening The plans to open a greyhound track in Dublin were drawn up by Paddy O’Donoghue, Jerry Collins, Patsy McAlinden and J ...

, is the premier

greyhound racing Greyhound racing is an organized, competitive sport in which greyhounds are raced around an oval track. The sport originates from Hare coursing, coursing. Track racing uses an artificial lure (usually a form of windsock) that travels ahead of th ...

competition in Ireland. First held at

Harold's Cross Harold's Cross () is an affluent urban village and inner suburb on the south side of Dublin, Republic of Ireland, Ireland in the postal district List of Dublin postal districts, D6W. The River Poddle runs through it, though largely in an underg ...

in 1928, the event was unofficial until 1932 and called the National Derby. The first winner in 1928 was Tipperary Hills who won in a time of 30.56 sec at a starting price of 1-1f. It controversially switched to Shelbourne Park in 1932 and then it was held in alternate years between the two tracks. The defunct

Markets Field The Markets Field is a UEFA category two stadium in Garryowen, Limerick, Ireland with a capacity of around 3,500. Formerly the home of Limerick FC, it is currently the home ground of Treaty United. The ground has hosted underage internatio ...

Greyhound Stadium in

Limerick Limerick ( ; ) is a city in western Ireland, in County Limerick. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Munster and is in the Mid-West Region, Ireland, Mid-West which comprises part of the Southern Region, Ireland, Southern Region. W ...

and the defunct Cork Greyhound Stadium in Western Road both hosted the event once in 1939 and 1942 respectively. The 1969 Irish Greyhound Derby was the last renewal held at Harold's Cross and the competition remained at Shelbourne Park from 1970. The most successful greyhound has been

Spanish Battleship Spanish Battleship (August 1951 - July 1962) was a male fawn and brindle greyhound. He is celebrated as one of Ireland's greatest racing greyhounds. Early life Spanish Battleship was whelped in August 1951 as part of a litter of seven. His owne ...

who won the event three times. Today it is considered to be one of the two biggest races in the calendar by the UK & Ireland greyhound racing industries, alongside the

English Greyhound Derby The English Greyhound Derby is the most prestigious race on the British Greyhound racing in the United Kingdom, greyhound racing calendar, with a history stretching back to 1927. It was first held at White City Stadium, but moved to Wimbledon ...

Venues and distances

*Harolds Cross (1928–1931, then alternate years until 1967) *Limerick (1939) *Cork (1942) *Shelbourne Park (1932, then alternate years until 1967) *Shelbourne Park (1968–1985, 525 yards) *Shelbourne Park (1986–present, 550 yards)

Statistics

Past winners

References

{{UK & Ireland Greyhound Racing Years Recurring sporting events established in 1928 Greyhound racing competitions in Ireland 1928 establishments in Ireland Greyhound racing competitions in Dublin (city) Greyhound racing in Dublin (city)