This huge, rough-coated animal, sometimes known simply as the Wolfbcnind, or, in the past, as the Cu, the Wolf Dogge, the Rough Greyhound, the Irish Greyhound, the Irish Elk-bound, the Irish Wolf-dog, the Great Irish Greyhound Wolf-dog, or the Canis grains hibernicus, was developed to hunt down the wolves of Ireland, a task which it had completed so successfully by the end of the 18th century that it found itself out of work. In France it is the Lévrier Irlandais, in Germany the Irischer Wolfsbund, in Spain the Lebrel Irlandés.
There is some disagreement over the origin of this impressive breed — the tallest dog in the world, weighing over 110 lb (50 kg). It is believed that, about 3,000 years ago, Phoenician traders brought Middle Eastern sighthounds (similar, no doubt, to today’s Maltese Pharaoh Hound) to the British Isles, where they were crossed with the local mastiffs to produce what was, in effect, a giant greyhound. Others believe that the Irish Sheepdog was involved in its ancestry. Still others mention the Scottish Deerhound as a forerunner, but this is likely to have been a later addition.
So successful was this gigantic dog in defending livestock against the marauding wolves of Ireland that its importance grew and grew until it became a hero of mythic proportions. The most famous of all Wolfhound legends concerns a dog called Ailbé, who lived about 2,000 years ago, and whose fame as a protector was so great that a local ruler, the king of Connacht, offered 6,000 cows for him. The king of Ulster made a rival offer that was successful and, as a result, war broke out between the kings. Ailbé fought valiantly in battle and, in a moment of fearless folly, grabbed the axle of the Connacht king’s chariot in his jaws and refused to let go. While he was still dinging on, his head was cut off and remained there, tightly damped, as the chariot thundered off across the field of battle.
In the Middle Ages, the Wolfhound was widely used in wolf control and this much feared wild predator’s numbers soon began to dwindle. By the 18th century the wolves had all been exterminated. It is usually accepted that the last Irish wolf was destroyed in 1770 in the Wicklow Mountains, although some believe that a few managed to hang on in County Carlow until 1786. After that, they were certainly all gone. The Wolfhound had proved too efficient for its own good and before long it, too, began to vanish, its great size making it unsuitable for other kinds of hunting.
By the middle of the 19th century there were only a few mongrel Wolfhounds left, but then a Scotsman, Captain George Augustus Graham, decided that such a majestic beast must somehow be preserved. He established a new breeding programme and set about reinstating the big hound. However, it has been argued that, in achieving this goal, the good captain was, in reality, creating a new breed. He introduced so much fresh blood that his programme was more of a reconstitution than a reinstatement. Among the breeds he is said to have brought in to cross with the mongrel remnants of the Wolfhound population were the Scottish Deerhound, the Great Dane, the Russian Wolfhound, the Pyrenean Mountain Dog and the Tibetan Mastiff.
Some authors insist that Graham’s programme was even more radical — that the original Irish Wolfhound had become entirely extinct and that his modern version was merely a cleverly contrived counterfeit. Whatever the truth of the matter, the fact remains that he did manage to develop a magnificent breed — perhaps even more noble than the original version.
Like other very big dogs, this powerful breed is as docile and friendly when it is relaxing with its human family as it is fierce and relentless when hunting or guarding. It is as though, like a heavyweight champion, it has nothing to prove and leaves yappy belligerence to the minor breeds. It emanates a calm dignity that endears it to all those who come to know it well.
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