A SHORT HISTORY OF THE GLEN OF IMAAL TERRIER
The Glen of Imaal Terrier is an inhabitant of the county of Wicklow, which is on the eastern seaboard of Ireland. This Irish valley with it’s heather, fern, and bracken severe, stretches out in all of its distinction encircled by protective mountains. The glen of Imaal has its own tales and legends of history and wars. It was known to be a point of splendid accomplishments and powerful actions of courage. It was here in this valley, in an unfrequented area, with impoverished soil, that the Lowland and Hessian soldiers from the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, where presented this land for their service to Queen Elizabeth the First.
The farmers that eventually descended from these soldiers bred all of the qualities of the much larger canines into this small companion dog and the fact that the Glen of Imaal Terrier positively thrived under these demanding circumstances demonstrates in the breed a disposition of toughness equal to that which was the same as the personality of its first owners.
First and foremost, a farming and hunting animal, the Glen of
Imaal Terrier earned a reputation for gameness. For as long as the people of Eire can remember, the terriers from that section of the earth have been, and still are, notable for their courage, they had to be; when going to ground to hunt badger and other vermin.
Of all the indigenous Irish breeds of terriers seen today, the Glen of Imaal Terrier is the least identified, but still it is the single type bred out of Ireland that is low enough to the earth to enter and challenge the badger in his den. This breed has always been a working terrier, and was bred for this purpose.
Part of their history is also known to have been spent with numerous hours at the dog-wheel. This contraption was a treadmill that rotated the meat on a spit as it cooked. It was propelled for hours by this energetic little dog. Their small size, low fronts, and strong rears made them ideally matched to this chore, and earned for them the nickname the 'Turnspit Dog
Many of the past older generations remember that their grandfathers kept these dogs and recall that the breed has changed little since then. In DOGS IN BRITAIN by C.L.B. HUBBARD, there is a photograph of a group of Glen of Imaal Terriers and their owners taken in 1933. The animals in this picture are surprisingly similar to the Glens that are found today.
The Glen of Imaal Terrier was certainly the last of the four terriers of Ireland to gain recognition upon their native soil. In 1933 the Glen of Imaal Terrier was exhibited for the first time in Ireland on Saint Patrick's Day, in Dublin. They were next recognized by the Kennel Club of England in 1975, the States Kennel Club of America in 1987, and the United Kennel Club (U.K.C.) in 1994, and the American Kennel Club (AKC) in 2001.