The 4 major horse races that people keep talking about (in the UK only) are: The Great British Horse Racing, the Irish Horse Racing and the Irish Derby. There are actually 5 horse races in total which are the Dublin Marathon, the Dublin Grand National and the Irish Derby. But, the Irish Derby is the most notable and the most prestigious of all the horse races in Ireland and this was because of the great work of Mr. Eoin O’Mara and the great Irish horse racing tradition. It is in fact the only horse race in the world where a person can only be crowned the ‘Irish Derby Champion (an honour given to the winner) if he or she is a male and has never been won in any other racing event in all of Ireland before.
What makes the Irish Derby such a significant historic race is because of its proximity and similarity to London’s London Eye. One of the things we learnt at our first horse race is that the Irish Derby is run in the same time as the official start of the London Eye and, like the UK Derby, the Irish Derby has a big day of racing. However, the main difference is that unlike the London Eye, the Irish Derby has its race start at 11am the day after it has ended.
What is the Dublin Marathon? Originally a road race, the Dublin Marathon gradually became a long distance race and is one of the largest distance races in the UK. It started in 1882 and was last held in 2007. A great event to enjoy all year round with great scenery to watch and you can even walk through the beautiful park for a run. If you are lucky enough to find the time to run it, please do it. The course is around 60kms and can be divided into 3 sections. The first section follows the old cobbled streets of Dublin Castle, along the ancient lanes of the city. Along the way you will pass through gardens and houses full of history. After passing through an old church, the course enters the main thoroughfare of Dublin which is called The O’Driscoll Street. It was in this neighbourhood that one of the most famous and infamous characters Dublin was founded. Dublin would not have its name ‘Dublin’ without it being built on this street. In fact it is one of three streets in Dublin named after William O’Driscoll who was the first Irish person to die in battle. He was shot in 1483 on top of a building named Walled Off. It is from the O’Driscoll
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