The Luck Of The Irish

They’re one of our most vulnerable native breeds– but what Glen of Imaal terriers lack in numbers, they make up for in personality, discovers Emma Hughes

- Emma Hughes

WHEN Duncan Wilson took down a number from his children’s school noticeboard eight years ago, he had no idea what was in store. ‘It just said “Puppies for sale”,’ the chief executive of Historic England remembers. What greeted him when he went to view the litter was a pair of barrel-chested little dogs with shaggy wheaten coats and sweetly out-turned front paws: Glen of Imaal terriers.

Described by The Kennel Club as ‘low to [the] ground, fearless and tenacious, strong and substantial’, these seldom-seen dogs are on its Vulnerable Native Breeds list—a tiny 48 puppies were registered in 2018 (only otterhounds and Sussex spaniels are rarer).

Said to have been developed in the eponymous corner of Co Wicklow during the reign of Elizabeth I as a result of mercenary soldiers from France and Germany crossing their own long-bodied hounds with local terriers, they’ve historically excelled at both pest control and companionship.

Their sporting roots run deep: until the 1960s, Glens could only be granted their pedigree certification after winning a fight with a badger in a ring.