Description of Irish Wolfhound handout from Irish Festival in Maryland / Description of Irish Brigade Monument - Taken from Gettysburg: Stories of Men and Monuments As Told By Battlefield Guides By Frederick W. Hawthorne

Breed History: Irish Wolfhounds

The Irish Wolfhound is the tallest of all dogs, measuring up to 35 inches high and weighing 130 pounds, originally bred to hunt wolves and Irish elk. Like the mastiff and the greyhound, the Irish Wolfhound has a very ancient history. Early Irish literature refers to these as "Irish dogs," "Big Dogs of Ireland", "Greyhounds of Ireland" "Great Hounds of Ireland," and " Wolfdogs of Ireland." The wolfhound was probably the favored dog of the Celts as they wandered and hunted in Ireland as likeness of the hounds can be found in Celtic engravings. the ancient Icelandic Saga of Nial detailed the size and demeanor of the dogs:

I will give thee a dog which I got in Ireland. He is huge of limb, and for a follower equal to an able man. Moreover, he hath a man's  wit and will bark at thine enemies but never at thy friends. And he will see by each man's face whether he be ill or well disposed to thee. And  he will lay down his life for thee.

These Irish hounds must have been well established on the Emerlad Isle by the time Romans visited the island. In fact, in 391 AD a Roman consul named Quintus Aerilius received seven of the dogs as a gift, and it was later written that"all Rome viewed them with wonder." Ownership of the Wolfhound was highly restricted to the most worthy families, and the dogs were treated royally-often with collars crafted from precious metals and stones. In the 3rd or 4th century, legend retells the story of a warrior and huntsmman named Finn who was "the master of the hounds." In order to wound Finn, his arch enemy drowned the wolfhound which was said to have slept on Finn's bed. " I have never heard the voice of a hound a hunting on plain, on bog or spreading slope, since I parted with my bold hound, but woe would come upon my heart," he lamented.

In the 1300's Llewlyn, the Prince of Wales, was hunting without his wolfhound. Eventually, the dog caught up with the Prince covered in blood. Alarmed, the prince ran back to the castle to check on his infant son. the bed was empty and the floor and sheets were spattered with blood. In disbelief, the Prince thrust his sword into the breast of the hound. A few minutes later, he discovered the child laying on the floor unharmed, surrounded by three wolves whom the faithful hound had slain in defense of the child. The Prince was so full of shame that he never smiled again.

In 1770, Oliver Goldsmith's book entitled, Animated Nature spoke of...

...the last variety and most wonderful of all that I shall mention is the great Irish Wolfdog, that may be considered as the first of the canine species...bred up to the houses of the great...he is extremely beautiful and majestic in appearance, being the greatest of the dog kind seen in the world...they are now allmost worn away and only rarely to be met with."

Indeed, by the 18th century, Irish Wolfhounds were close to extinction despite their special favor with members of the royal courts throughout Europe. Captain George Augustus Graham, a 19th century Scottish officer in the British army is credited with saving both the Irish Wolfhounds and Scottish Deerhounds.

In Art

Irish Wolfhounds can first been seen in carved Celtic images from 300b.c.-600a.d. Much later, the large hounds begin to appear in paintings of royals-in keeping with the tradition of the elite status of the dogs. In 1532, the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V commissioned the Venetian artist Titian to copy an earlier portrait of him which featured his brother's Irish Wolfhound. When Charles finally received the portrait in 1536, he immediately made Titian the Court Painter.

Demeanor

Despite his imposing size, the Irish Wolfhound is very calm and does well within the family circle. He is dignified, sensitive, and very responsive to training. His quiet nature makes him an ineffective watchdog. He is alert but not suspicious and is not at all aggressive. He requires a good bit of exercise and is best suited for a family with ample space for him to roam. Wolfhounds are good with children.

Location: Sickles Avenue, The Loop

Dedicated : July 2, 1888

On the high ground west of the Wheatfield there is a large concentration of monuments to Union regiments from several brigades that had fought their way through the Wheatfield. One quite distinctive monument in this area is that of the Irish Brigade, a unit organized by former Irish revolutionary Thomas Francis Meagher. Active in most of the major eastern battles of the Civil War, the brigade was shattered at Fredericksburg and Chancellorsville. Fighting under the emerald green regimental flags decorated with the harp of Erin were five all-Irish regiments, the 63rd, 69th, and 88th New York, 28th Massachusetts, and 116th Pennsylvania Infantries. At Gettysburg the entire brigade numbered just five hundred and thirty men, the size of a severly understrength regiment. The battle here on July 2 would cost the unit two hundred and fourteen casualties.

The Irish Brigade monument honors the three New York regiments of the brigade who combined their state appropriations for this purpose. the shaft of polished granite and inset bronze is carved in the shape of a traditional symbol of Ireland, the Celtic cross. At the top of the cross is the trefoil symbol of the 2nd Army Corps. Beneath it are five medallions with the numeric designation of the three regiments, the state seal of New York, and the seal of Ireland. At the base lies a life size Irish wolf hound in bronze, representing faith and devotion.

An additonal feature of the memorial is the bronze plaque on the right face of the base representing a section of an artillery battery in action. This was meant to honor Captain James Rorty's 14th New York Independent Battery. This unit had been mustered in to United States service as part of the original Irish Brigade in 1861. Detached later in the war, the battery participated in the battle of Gettysburg on July 3, suffering several casualties. The veterans of the Irish Brigade chose to include their former artillery comrades on their memorial.