Irish Wolfhounds in History
There are many sites relating to the history of Irish Wolfhounds. One of the most prolific and best-researched on this breed is "History of the Irish Wolfhound".
The breed itself is very, very old- dating back as far as 7,000 BC. These dogs are mentioned, as cú (variously translated as hound, Irish hound, war dog, wolf dog, etc.) in Irish laws and in Irish literature which dates from the 5th century or, in the case of the Sagas from the old Irish period - AD 600-900. Ancient wood cuts and writings have placed them in existence as a breed by 273 BC. However there is indication that they existed even as early as 600 BC when the Tectosages and Tolistobogii Celts sacked Delphi. Survivors left accounts of the fierce Celts and the huge dogs who fought with them and at their side. They were mentioned by Julius Caesar in his treatise, The Gallic Wars, and by 391 BC, they were written about by Roman Consul, Quintus Aurelius Symmachus, who received seven of them as a gift to be used for fighting lions, bears, that in his words, "all Rome viewed with wonder".
Bred as hunting dogs by the ancients, who called them Cú Faoil. The Irish continued to breed them for this purpose, as well as to guard their homes and protect their stock. Cúchulain, a name which translates literally as "hound of Culain", gained his name when as a child, known then as Setanta, he slew the ferocious guard dog of Culain forcing him to offer himself as a replacement.
The Celts invaded Greece in 275 BC and there acquired dogs similar to greyhounds that then accompanied them on their conquests around Europe. These dogs may then have been crossed with mastiff type dogs to produce even larger dogs. The Romans then found these dogs when they invaded Britain in the early centuries AD. There are stories from Ireland of a great Irish hound in 200 BC to 200 AD. From written records of the 5th century it is known that breeding of dogs resembling the wolfhound type was very organised and profitable. So profitable that many of them were sold abroad, and given as gifts to royalty. These dogs were used for guarding, hunting boar, stag, elk and wolf. In the 15th and 16th centuries this hound was mainly used for hunting wolves. As so many of these Wolfhounds were being exported and wolves were still a problem in Britain in the mid 1600’s, Oliver Cromwell stopped their export. When the last wolf was allegedly killed in Ireland in 1780 the Wolfhound decreased in numbers, so much so that it almost died out. Towards the end of the 1800’s the Wolfhound was starting to make a slow comeback. They were being bred with Deerhounds and crossed occasionally to the Borzoi and Great Dane. They were first shown in the 1870’s.
The breed itself is very, very old- dating back as far as 7,000 BC. These dogs are mentioned, as cú (variously translated as hound, Irish hound, war dog, wolf dog, etc.) in Irish laws and in Irish literature which dates from the 5th century or, in the case of the Sagas from the old Irish period - AD 600-900. Ancient wood cuts and writings have placed them in existence as a breed by 273 BC. However there is indication that they existed even as early as 600 BC when the Tectosages and Tolistobogii Celts sacked Delphi. Survivors left accounts of the fierce Celts and the huge dogs who fought with them and at their side. They were mentioned by Julius Caesar in his treatise, The Gallic Wars, and by 391 BC, they were written about by Roman Consul, Quintus Aurelius Symmachus, who received seven of them as a gift to be used for fighting lions, bears, that in his words, "all Rome viewed with wonder".
Bred as hunting dogs by the ancients, who called them Cú Faoil. The Irish continued to breed them for this purpose, as well as to guard their homes and protect their stock. Cúchulain, a name which translates literally as "hound of Culain", gained his name when as a child, known then as Setanta, he slew the ferocious guard dog of Culain forcing him to offer himself as a replacement.
The Celts invaded Greece in 275 BC and there acquired dogs similar to greyhounds that then accompanied them on their conquests around Europe. These dogs may then have been crossed with mastiff type dogs to produce even larger dogs. The Romans then found these dogs when they invaded Britain in the early centuries AD. There are stories from Ireland of a great Irish hound in 200 BC to 200 AD. From written records of the 5th century it is known that breeding of dogs resembling the wolfhound type was very organised and profitable. So profitable that many of them were sold abroad, and given as gifts to royalty. These dogs were used for guarding, hunting boar, stag, elk and wolf. In the 15th and 16th centuries this hound was mainly used for hunting wolves. As so many of these Wolfhounds were being exported and wolves were still a problem in Britain in the mid 1600’s, Oliver Cromwell stopped their export. When the last wolf was allegedly killed in Ireland in 1780 the Wolfhound decreased in numbers, so much so that it almost died out. Towards the end of the 1800’s the Wolfhound was starting to make a slow comeback. They were being bred with Deerhounds and crossed occasionally to the Borzoi and Great Dane. They were first shown in the 1870’s.