First Came Gilliegrae
Graham and I have been married for 24 years and always owned dogs, however our dream was always to own an Irish Setter.
Graham is a retired firefighter and I work as a psychiatric nurse. We have 3 adult children, Stewart, Iain and Steffany and a grandson, Thomas. An ordinary family, with a love for animals.
We have had the usual goldfish, hamsters, gerbils as the children grew up. We always had Kerry Blue Terriers. We now have five setters, three chickens and 3 parrots - not a quiet life by any means.
In 2007 we bought our first girl, Rappatty Red Velvet (Etney) from a local breeder Mrs Pat Luto. Whilst searching the internet we 'fell' upon Irish Red and White Setters and decided "in for a penny, in for a pound", lets have one of each, so we bought Casefelice Balwen (Cara) from Mr & Mrs Lamb.
We don't know whether we should thank them or murder them, because since that day we have been "bitten by the setter bug" !!!!!
We regularly attend both Open and Championships shows around the country, hence we bought a caravan - more expence - but we meet lots of nice 'doggy' people and have some fantastic days out, sometimes we even come home with a rossette!
Etney and Cara were joined by Rappatty Romance (Edana) and Kilkerrin Swift for Gilliegrae (Flynn).
We bred Etney in 2010 and kept a little girl Gilliegrae Cuanna Ariadne (Eden).
Our aim is to encourage people to learn about both these beautiful breeds and enjoy them as family pets as much as we do.
Links:
Irish Red & White Setter Club of Great Britain
Irish Red & White Setter Club of Ireland
The Kennel Club
Midland Irish Setter Society
Irish Setters UK & Ireland
