Willie
Blair of Ballymoney, Ireland
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Willie
Blair on the left, pictured with Jimmy Greer,
holding the birds that won 1st & 2nd Open
INFC Kings Cup Messac in 2004
 Willie
Blair on the left, pictured with Jimmy Greer,
holding the birds that won 1st & 2nd Open
INFC Kings Cup Messac in 2004
Another fancier who comes to mind for this series,
a fellow Irishman from the town of Ballymoney
is that of Willie Blair. Willie raced for years
with much success into the little town in County
Antrim in the north of the island. So much so
that his name and image came to mind over the
years as one perused the weekly results in the
old reliable Ireland's Saturday Night newspaper.
The
origins of the Blair pigeons according to certain
sources were the old Irish Neill and Locke strains.
The latter fanciers were considered greats of
the Irish pigeon fancy and their records are second
to none in the minds of the older members of that
fancy. Apparently Blair had raced the Neill strain
for decades while his Locke stock derived from
the great Alfie Greenwood of Cullybackey, an outstanding
pigeon breeder and racer. Fanciers who were certain
to become world wide in reputation if they were
racing today especially with the modern media
of communication in vogue. But because of the
geographical reality of the island of Ireland
and the inferior communication arising from that
isolation those earlier greats were parochialised.
It
was no surprise to see under the name of Willie
Blair in the pigeon and sporting press 1st, 7th,
8th club, 3rd Section, 12th Open in the NIPA races
from Britain such as Bude or Okehampton (Cornwall);
or 1st, and 7th club, 6th Section from Penzance
on the larger island, crossing the Bristol Channel
and the Irish Sea on their flight. Or including
another water obstacle the English Channel from
Dinard (France) 2nd club, 3rd Section, 12th Open;
Le Sables 1st club, 25th Section, 30th Open. A
small example taken at random of Blair's many
successes.
Apparently
a very modest person there is no doubt that he
was one of the best flyers of the racing pigeon
into Ireland and deserves this brief tribute.
I should add that the Blair pigeons won the prestigious
French Diploma for the best average from the Old
Bird Derby and Irish National. This was in 1981
and to cap it all Willie, that year, also became
the Irish Fancier of the Year.Yes, a fine fancier
and a gentleman!
by: Liam O Comain
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