The Munster Circuit - four all breed champ shows, PLUS (for Rough Collies) a Breed champ show and a Group champ show. Therefore six sets of Green Stars on offer for Rough Collies in one week. To become an Irish champion, a dog must win seven green stars, so a good run on the Circuit could set a dog well on the road to his title.

The “Munster Circuit” consists of four championship all breed shows held in the province of Munster. Exhibitors and dogs from the uk and farther afield come to combine a holiday with a hobby and compete for Green Stars, which are the Irish Kennel Club award.

In Ireland, all dogs are graded by the judges, and only dogs graded “excellent” or – in the case of puppies, very promising - may compete for the Green Star.

There are 10 FCI groups, and Rough Collies are in Group 1.

They say “anything can happen on the Circuit”. Weatherwise this is certainly true as some years the weather is atrocious and veteran circuit-goers all have stories of cars, caravans and motorhomes stuck in muddy car parks and being towed out by tractors!

“Anything can happen on the Circuit” can also mean a complete change in usual winners. Many of the Irish exhibitors don’t do the Circuit, and so when the overseas dogs are here it’s a totally different mix of exhibits. That’s what makes it so interesting.

In August of every year, Rough Collie exhibitors can show in the IKC Showgrounds, Cloghran, Dublin, at Navan Groups 1,2,5 Show on the Saturday morning. Saturday afternoon sees the All Ireland Collie & Sheepdog Society Rough Collie Breed Champ show. Next day, the Circuit officially kicks off in the province of Munster with a show in Clonmel, Co Tipperary on a Sunday. The next show is held in Killarney in Co Kerry on the Tuesday, then a show in Adare, Co Limerick on the Thursday, and finally on the Saturday in Tralee, Co Kerry. The 2013 Circuit of all six shows was, as usual, fun and interesting. The weather was kind to us and the craic was great around the collie rings. The collie breed judges were a mix with one Irish, one English, two Norwegians, one Finnish, and one from Luxembourg. Only the club show had a breed specialist judging. This mix of judges contributes to the “anything can happen” experience.

The top winners on this years’ circuit are as follows – but it should be remembered that every dog had a win of some type – whether it was a class placing or simply being awarded an “excellent” grade. All the collie folk professed to have had a good circuit and to have thoroughly enjoyed themselves this year – and that’s what it’s all about.

NAVAN
Green Star Dog   Ch Amalie/Lynmead Loves to Hug owned by A Hollywood and C Waterhouse, shown in Ireland by Peter Farrell	Green Star Bitch and Best of Breed Ileyda Satin Lace owned by Grenville Francis, bred by T & A Iley

AICSS Club Show (click on links underlined to take you to full show results)

Green Star Dog: Ch Caronlea Lord of the Dance owned and bred by Karen O’Neill and Green Star Bitch and Best in Show Ch Belrah Simply Surprise owned and bred by Peter Farrell

Australian Supreme Ch Kazjs Sir Spence	Ch Wassail China Blue at Kynan CJW13 CW13 JunCh

The big news this year was that Australian Supreme Grand Ch Kazjs Sir Spense won two Groups and one Best in Show!

The All Ireland Collie & Sheepdog Society runs a Circuit Points Competition. Points are calculated from class wins at all six of the shows, and the winner receives The President’s Cup. The 2013 winner was Birkmyre Blue Bouquet – a puppy bitch owned by Tom Wall and bred by R & N McDowall.

If anybody is interested in doing the Circuit next year they should contact the Irish kennel club for show dates and Secretaries. www.ikc.ie, email ikenclub@indigo.ie or phone 00353 1 4533300. For details of the AICSS club show contact me, Maureen Timmins, 00353 1 8354377, email colliesociety@gmail.com, or website www.allirelandcollie.com

Maureen Timmins (Kynan)