Passing Direct Pigeon Supplies, which is a fairly large shop in Arklow, Co Wicklow prompted me to check out the state of pigeon racing in Ireland today. An extremely well organised sport which had it's origins in Belgium in the early 1800's, by 1870 there were approximately 10,000 lofts in Belgium, but previous to this pigeons were used as message carriers. Homing Pigeons are today raced in Belgium, Holland, United Kingdom, France, Ireland, Japan, Taiwan, Canada, Australia, South Africa, United States, India, Argentina, Hungary and Mainland China.
Pigeon Fanciers in Ireland race between April and September from a number of different locations within Ireland itself, including Arklow, Waterford and Cork on a weekly basis. However, there are certain races each year from the United Kingdom, and as far as France.
A great source of information is to be found at the home of racing pigeons in Ireland, www.racingpigeon.ie
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