IRISH WOLFHOUND SOCIETY OF IRELAND

Lads and lasses

Event to feature bark o' the Irish

February 26, 2007

Thirty years ago, Joseph Mahoney of Shorewood decided he wanted a dog.

"I wanted a guard dog. It's a big breed. It must be a good guard dog," he said of the Irish wolfhounds he was investigating.

Although he was right on the big part, Irish wolfhounds are not good guard dogs.

His wife, Madeleine, said the dogs are named the "gentle giants."

Irish wolfhounds can be as big as 160 pounds for males and 130 for females. In addition, they are the tallest breed recognized by the American Kennel Association.

Today, the Mahoneys own their seventh and eighth Irish wolfhounds -- Finnegan and Connel. And those two dogs will be in Manhattan on Saturday, along with a number of other Irish breeds, to walk in the Manhattan Irish Day Parade.

The idea is the brainchild of Joliet attorney Jack Ardaugh of Manhattan.

"I had the thought several years ago: It would be kind of neat to get all of the Irish breeds in the parade," he said.

In all, there are nine breeds. The first seven -- Irish setter, Irish wolfhound, Irish terrier, Kerry blue terrier, Glen of Imaal terrier, Irish water spaniel and soft-coated Wheaten terrier -- are recognized by the American Kennel Club.

The other two breeds -- Kerry beagle, and red and white setter -- are not recognized by the AKC.

Ardaugh said he has worked hard to make his dream a reality.

"I have been soliciting, asking, cajoling, whatever," he said. "It doesn't have to be a show dog."

The lineup begins at 10 a.m., and all dogs should line up under the "Our Dogs" of Ireland sign. The sign is a play on words for his last name -- Ardaugh.

Ardaugh said most Irish breeds are scarcely seen in America. The Mahoneys can attest to that.

"We get a lot of questions. People ask, what are they? They've never seen them before," Joseph Mahoney said.

Even though Irish wolfhounds did not end up being good guard dogs, the Mahoneys found they did end up being good dogs.

"They're kind of clownish at times. They do the strangest things sometimes," Joseph Mahoney said. "I had one jump over me. I was sitting on a staircase in a bi-level home, and I was throwing a ball.

"That shocked me, that they are that powerful and that agile that they can do something like that."

Unfortunately, for all the goodness and gentleness Irish Wolfhounds offer, they are large breeds and therefore have rather short life spans, only about seven years.

"They're heartbreak dogs," Joseph said.

For more information on bringing your Irish-bred dog to the parade, call Ardaugh at (815) 258-1428.

For more information on Irish wolfhounds, visit: www.iwclubofamerica.org.

Dawn Aulet is a Herald News features reporter who can be reached at daulet@scn1.com or (815) 729-6085.

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