Showing posts with label Ireland. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Ireland. Show all posts

Sunday 7 August 2022

Kilkenny cat

Kilkenny cats - cat on roof
 

This is I believe a representation of the Kilkenny hurling team, who are called the Kilkenny cats in recognition of the fighting spirit of the original and real cats (see story below). Photo copyright the man with the golden cam. 

The orange and black striped shirt is meant to represent a ginger tom cat. The Times archive is a fascinating source of information. The author of an article in the 31st, 1864 edition purports to know the origin of the Kilkenny cat. 

The term 'Kilkenny cat' refers to a person who fights with tenacity. Several origins of this term have evolved. The Times journalist of 1864 thought he had the right answer as to the origin and he probably did. This is it. A rebellion occurred in Ireland (didn't they always) in 1798 or 1803. 

As a result, Kilkenny was garrisoned (troops were assigned to a military post) to, I expect, keep the peace. The soldiers in the garrison where Hessian (soldiers from the then principality of Hesse Kassel, now in Germany - they were then German soldiers). 

They had the appalling and utterly cruel custom or habit (to pass the time of day, I expect) of tying two cats together by their tails and then hanging the cats over a clothes line so that the cats were forced to face each other. Under these cruel and uncomfortable circumstances, they fought each other until one succumbed. 

William Hogarth drawing of Kilkenny cats fighting. 

This custom became known to the officers who wanted to stop it. On an inspection of the barracks to catch this act happening, a soldier cut down the cats with a sword, cutting through each cats tail. The cats fled leaving their tails hanging on the line. 

The explanation given to the officer was that two cats had fought and consumed each other. As they must have fought with incredible conviction to have eaten each other a saying evolved, "to fight like a Kilkenny cat", to mean fighting with conviction and tenacity. 

Which is why the Kilkenny hurling and Gaelic football teams like to call themselves the cats.

Sunday 13 July 2014

Dublin Ireland: Poisoned Stray and Feral Cats

This is rather typical story of feral cat poisoning.  I hate to say it but the poison is antifreeze and it seems that somebody is putting down food laced with antifreeze which kills cats by destroying kidney function.  There's lots of this sort of thing about anywhere in the world. Note: the manufacturers are remise in not making antifreeze cat safe. It is possible.

The headline to the news story in the media is “people are devastated".  The people referred to in the headline are those engaged in feeding, trapping and neutering the feral cats who inhabit the Richmond Road area of Dublin.
Richmond Road, Dublin, Ireland

The headline is actually incorrect because some residents don't give a damn and some residents are probably quietly pleased judging by the comments.  The comments are very typical as well as the poisoning.  Whenever you have cat poisoning articles you can bet your bottom dollar that about 50% of the comments are for the poisoning while 50% are against it.

Those that are for the poisoning are, of course, people who don't like cats but more importantly they are people who don't like cats wandering around particularly into their gardens.  They consider the feral and stray cat dirty and disease ridden and a hazard to human health.

These people criticise cat owners who don't take responsibility for their cats by ensuring that they are neutered or ensuring that they are kept in; whatever it takes to avoid a cat colony in a public place.

This is the first time that I have read a story about a cat colony in Ireland being poisoned en masse. The stories that are in the news media on this subject often relate to the USA simply because most stories about cats on the internet emanate from the USA.

The truth of the matter is that the people who are sympathetic towards the poisoner do have a point and I hate to say that.  People who do not approach cat caretaking responsibly and allow them to wander are doing the cat a great disservice. They taint the image of the cat in the eyes of the public and give an opportunity to immoral people who don't like cats the chance and the reason to kill them in a horrible way.

There's no excuse or justification for poisoning community cats.  However, the world is very imperfect and although poisoning cats is a criminal offence there is almost a zero chance of the person being caught and a pragmatic approach is called for namely to tackle the root cause of the problem in the long-term which, as you know, is poor cat caretaking.

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