Cork Greyhound Stadium was a

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 ...

stadium on Western Road in

Cork "Cork" or "CORK" may refer to: Materials * Cork (material), an impermeable buoyant plant product ** Stopper (plug), or "cork", a cylindrical or conical object used to seal a container *** Wine cork an item to seal or reseal wine Places Ireland * ...

Munster Munster ( or ) is the largest of the four provinces of Ireland, located in the south west of the island. In early Ireland, the Kingdom of Munster was one of the kingdoms of Gaelic Ireland ruled by a "king of over-kings" (). Following the Nor ...

. It is not to be confused with

Curraheen Park Curraheen Park Greyhound Stadium is a greyhound racing track located in Bishopstown, west of Cork, County Cork, Ireland. Racing takes place every Friday and Saturday evening and the facilities include the grandstand Laurels restaurant, fast fo ...

Origins

The first greyhound track in Cork was known as The Show Grounds Greyhound Track and ran from 1928 to 1935 but closed on 20 September 1935, following the decision to relocate to a site nearer the city centre. The site chosen was between Western Road and the north bank of the

River Lee The River Lee () is a river in Ireland. It rises in the Shehy Mountains on the western border of County Cork and flows eastwards through Cork, where it splits in two for a short distance, creating an island on which Cork's city centre is b ...

near the Wellington Bridge.

Opening

Less than one year after the closure of the circuit at the Showgrounds the second Cork track opened for business on 13 June 1936. Pat O'Brien was installed as the manager.

History

The Irish provincial tracks pressured the Irish Coursing Club for the right to stage Ireland's premier event, the

Irish Greyhound Derby The Irish Greyhound Derby held at Shelbourne Park, is the premier Greyhound racing in Ireland, greyhound racing competition in Ireland. First held at Harold's Cross Stadium, Harold's Cross in 1928, the event was unofficial until 1932 and called ...

which had been exclusively run in Dublin. During a vote in 1939 the club agreed to let

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 ...

host the race followed by Cork in 1941 but due to the

Foot-and-mouth disease Foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) or hoof-and-mouth disease (HMD) is an infectious disease, infectious and sometimes fatal virus (biology), viral disease that primarily affects even-toed ungulates, including domestic and wild Bovidae, bovids. The vir ...

in 1941 racing had ceased and when the ban on racing was lifted Cork unfortunately ruled themselves out from being able to host the event at such short notice. In 1942 the chance to hold the Derby was taken despite the fact that Cork could not match the prize money offered by the Dublin tracks. Record crowds attended the event won by Uacterlainn Riac. Cork never hosted the Derby again but in 1944 the

Laurels ''Laurus nobilis'' is an aromatic evergreen tree or large shrub with green, glabrous (smooth) leaves. It is in the flowering plant family Lauraceae. According to Flora Cretica (Kleinsteuber Books, 2024, ISBN 978-3-9818110-5-6) the stem can be 1 ...

was inaugurated at the track over 500 yards and would soon become a classic race. The Oaks was held at the track twice in 1939 and 1943 and a competition originally named the Pegasus Cup was also introduced. The Pegasus Cup was renamed the Perpetual Challenge Trophy and later the Guinness Trophy. The Bord na gCon installed a new totalisator system at four tracks including Cork in 1960 and one year later the Laurels switched to the slightly longer distance of 525 yards. Laurels winners included Spanish Chestnut in 1949 and 1950 and the legendary

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 ...

won the competition in 1955. Cork bookmakers Liam Cashman sponsored the event for many years. The Bord na gCon purchased the stadium in 1969, safeguarding the future of the track from redevelopment. The circumference of the track was 445 yards which consisted of race distances of 300, 310, 500, 525, 550, 70, 745 and 525 hurdles.

Closure

By the late 1980s the facilities were struggling to cope with the large Cork attendances and the Bord na gCon sold the site of the greyhound track in Cork in 1996. They then purchased a green-field site in Curraheen on the western fringes of the city with the intention of building a brand new facility there. It took until the year 2000 for the Bord na gCon plans of a new track in Cork to come to fruition. The last meeting was held on Saturday 1 April 2000. The Western Road venue was redeveloped into the Western Gateway Building (science building of the University College Cork).

Competitions

* Irish Laurels * Oaks *

Track records

References

{{Greyhound stadiums in Ireland 1936 establishments in Ireland 2000 disestablishments in Ireland Defunct greyhound racing venues in Ireland Sport in County Cork Sports venues in County Cork