Barbour Cup and its plinth are reunited
Image 1 of 2
The reunion of the Barbour Cup with its plinth (which had been missing for 84 years); from left, Heather Kiernan, James Kiernan, Michael Kiernan, Mrs Mabel Wallace, Ita Kiernan and Julian Wallace, Mrs Wallace’s son.Image 2 of 2
Mrs Marian Willington receiving the Barbour Cup in 1939, the year that her horse, Baykora, won it at Slanemore, Mullingar.As they prepare for the Castletown Geoghegan Point to Point on October 1 next, the organisers have announced that their prestigious and historic Barbour Cup has been reunited with its plinth after 84 years, thanks to 99-year-old Mrs Mabel Wallace.
The Cup has been presented to the winner of the Open Lightweight race since the early years of the 1900s, but since 1939 it has been missing its plinth.
Last May, Mrs Wallace contacted Heather Kiernan of the Westmeath Hunt Point to Point committee with the news that she had the original plinth.
The committee met her at the last meeting of the season, the Ballingarry Point to Point in Tipperary, on May 21, when the plinth was handed back. It was a memorable day for the committee when they met with the amazing woman from Shinrone, County Offaly, and she kindly returned the plinth, which runners race for in the Open Lightweight at the April fixture in Castletown Geoghegan, Heather told the Westmeath Examiner.
She explained the connection between Mrs Wallace’s family and the Barbour Cup which “adds to its assorted history”. Mabel was married to ‘Humie’ Wallace. He was a first cousin of a lady called Marian Willington (formerly Mrs M Wallace).
Mrs Willington, a talented trainer in her time, trained a gelding called Baykora to win the Open Lightweight at the Westmeath Foxhounds fixture held in Slanemore, Mullingar, in 1937, 1938 and 1939, winning the Barbour Cup outright in 1939.
Mrs Willington re-presented the Barbour Cup as a perpetual challenge cup in 1955.
The first record on the cup is of W Uprichard’s ‘Jolly Tar’, who won it in 1909. JP Hogan’s ‘Merri Merri’ won it in 1913. The Earl of Kenmare trained ‘Barca’ to win it in 1920. Mrs PD Cullinan trained ‘Heza’ to win it in 1930. The Countess of Dumfries trained ‘Bachelors Heart’ to win it in 1933.
Adding to the Barbour Cup’s fascinating history is that between 1914 and 1918 the cup’s record reads, ‘Race Not Run Owing to Great War’, and in 1919 the record reads, ‘Race Abandoned Owing to Stoppage of Hunting’.
“The original plinth was misplaced all those years ago, but thanks to Mrs Wallace’s insight, astuteness and determination, she made it possible for two priceless pieces of history, the Barbour Cup and its plinth, to become one again and our Point to Point committee will be forever grateful to her,” Heather said.