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The Midland Cat Club of Ireland

History of the Midland Cat Club of Ireland

by Brega Webb

 

Rules and regulation to run a cat show are reasonably stringent as the safety of the cats, exhibitors, club members and general public are obviously at stake.  A licence has to be granted by the Governing Council of the Cat Fancy of Ireland (GCCFI), show managers have to be trained (usually by being involved with other club shows) and obviously insurance has to be in place.

Before a club can run a championship show where certificates are awarded the show manager has to run what are known as exemption shows (where mistakes, especially in the volume of paperwork required are examined and corrected) followed by sanction shows – the number being decided according to the degree of expertise achieved.

 

The first exemption show for the Midland Cat Club was held in Leisureland, Galway in September, 1986.  This show was run by Dorothy Halliday from Ballinasloe, ably aided by her husband, Martin,  and was voted a great success.  62 cats were exhibited and seven were on exhibition.  The exhibitors came from as far away as Cork, Dublin and Bray and Northern Ireland – eight cats having come from as far away as Coleraine, Belfast, Lisburn and Portadown. The show was voted a great success and the sanction show followed a year later, again in Leisureland) when the entry increased to 64 cats.  Again most of the 32 counties were represented.  To achieve this level of interest shows that a great deal of time and energy was given by Dorothy and Martin, their daughter Sarah, and the committee.  No certificates were awarded at this level that could send cats on their way to the titles of champion or premier (the neuter equivalent of champion) but there were 25 trophies awaiting winners.

 

The first Championship Show was held on 3rd September, 1988.  Fifty six pedigree cats entered in the various classes and nine non-pedigree cats.  Best in show was Charlie and Isabel Keenan’s Tipped British Male Neuter – Premier  Brookdale Eiger.  This lad had travelled Belfast and was completely unfazed by all the attention.  Charlie and Isabel, together with many who entered that first show are still great supporters of the club and travel most years to the various centres where the shows have been held.

 

In 1990 a Mini Cat Show and Exhibition for Pedigree and Non-Pedigree Cats was organised in Limerick, enticed by beautiful posters drawn by Margaret Baker, the response was very good and set people thinking about the possibility of having a Championship Show in that area.

 

The shows continued in Leisureland until 1991 when a decision was made to move to Hayden’s Hotel in Ballinasloe.  By this time Martin Halliday had become joint show manager with Dorothy and Tim Hall from Limerick was in training to be show manager so it was decided to have a Limerick branch of the club as well as a Galway branch. 

 

The first show held in 1991 with Tim as show manager and two subsequent shows in 1992 and 1993, capably helped by the committee of Gwen and Kevin Darcy, Vincent and Libby Ireton and Tim’s wife Charlotte Cryer (who, among other things, drew the amusing and attractive cartoons).  However, venues were difficult to find for such a large number of cats and so these shows could not continue in the same format.  It was then decided to run shows for non-pedigree cats under GCCFI rules with Tim as Show Manager and his Committee.  The first Midland Cat Club Limerick Household Pet Show was held in 1994 and attracted fifty-five household pets and six pedigree cats (on exhibition – not judged).  An art competition was also held, the winners being presented with prizes by Miss Limerick, Olive Kearney.  These shows continued to attract great entries and it was with regret that it was not possible, after ten years, for them to continue due to both Health and Safety regulations and personal commitments of the small group of people who worked so very hard to make them a success.  On one memorable occasion the show was held during the Limerick S at Clonshire, Adare, and the cats were fascinated by the birds that flew in and out of the barn in which they were sited.  Throughout the ten years credit must be given to the main sponsors, Educational Building Society, and Mr Vincent Ireton  MRIVM, the latter arranging for many pharmaceutical companies and cat food to support the shows.

 

Brega and John Webb started a magazine for members, Sceala, which contained information on cat welfare, helpful hints on showing, cartoons (usually supplied by Charlie Cryer) but unfortunately the cost of production (ie photocopying) proved too high for the club funds to bear.  The Club later endorsed Brega’s application to join the stewarding scheme for the Burmese section and, having completed a successful probationary period became a full judge of Burmese in 2001.

 

The aims and objectives of the Midland Club include promoting the welfare of cats.

So with this in mind we were asked by the GSPCA to put on an exhibition of cats at the Tulira Castle Animal Festival.  This exhibition was not any sort of competition for prizes or trophies, but it was a great opportunity for the cat exhibitors to regale all and sundry with the deeds and lifestyle of their pets.  Janet and Jack Darian, who had restored the castle had made the grounds available for this event to raise funds for the GSPCA and it proved a great day out for as well as the cat show there was a dog show pony and horse displays, demonstrations of wood carving, instrument making and entertainment by a harpist, Frankie Gavin and the Flying Pigs Theatre Company to name but a few.  Sadly this event only took place for two years

 

The Championship shows went from strength to strength for the next ten years at Hayden’s Hotel in Ballinasloe until Dorothy and Martin’s retirement in 2003 – 16 years of dedication to promote the cat fancy of Ireland.

 

We were very fortunate that Carmel Byrne (who had trained as a show manager) had recently moved from Dublin to Killaloe, Co Clare and she volunteered to take on the mantle left by Dorothy and Martin. Carmel picked up the baton in 2003, together with Shirley Ward and Brega Webb, and the first show under her management was held at the Kilmurry Hotel in Limerick.  Each year sees the shows improve and the commitment of the people involved take on great energy.  There is now a thriving Committee, some of whom wear the hats of experience whilst others are exhibitors or breeders, brimful of new ideas which bodes well for the future, and we are fortunate to have the help of our Honorary veterinarian, Vincent Ireton.  Betty Dobbs, stood down in 2007 as President, a role she had fulfilled since the inception of the Club.  Her resignation was accepted with sadness and Brega Webb was appointed in her place.