Club InformationIreland is the native land of several breeds of dog, all developed for sporting or hunting purposes, almost all self coloured and are of the native hues of the land of their birth. The breeds were developed by a sport loving people and they represent that sporting heritage; the Irish Wolfhound, Irish Terrier, Kerry Blue Terrier, Irish Water Spaniel and the two Irish setters, the Red and White and the Red, being typical examples. The breeds were developed to accompany and aid their owners in their sporting pursuits. The setters and water spaniels became more popular in later times as the sports that they were developed for became popular with the development of firearms in the 18th century.
The Irish Red Setter Club was established in 1882 to promote the Red dog and drafted the breed standard. That standard was the description of working dog, the physical specification of an athletic, enduring working dog. In Ireland Irish setters were developed to hunt gamebirds on the mountains, bogs, farmland and forests of the country and up to World War 11 were almost exculively the only breed used for that purpose. Today they compete with the other pointing breeds
