Offaly politican's greyhound on a great run with sprint final win in Dundalk
Clara man has lifelong interest in greyhounds
A GREYHOUND owned by an Offaly politician has made a great start to his racing career. Beranmays Blue won a sprint final at Dundalk Greyhound Track on Saturday night, having won its first two races over the previous two weeks.
Beranmays Blue is owned by long serving Offaly Fianna Fail politician, Barry Cowen, his wife Mary and their four children.
Beranmays Blue races under the name of the Gillbeyhall Syndicate but its members is the Cowen family – greyhounds belonging to Barry Cowen used to run under the Gillbeyhall pre-fix but he decided to name his new dog Beranmays Blue in a fitting tribute to his late parents, Ber and May, and remembering a former greyhound they had.
A former Fianna Fail member of Offaly County Council, Barry Cowen was elected as a TD in 2011 when his famous brother Brian stepped away from politics in the wake of his term as Taoiseach ending. He ended his term as a TD in 2024 when he decided to seek election to the European Parliament and he was subsequently elected for the Midlands-North-West constituency after mounting a powerful campaign.
One of Offaly's most familiar figures, he has a great interest in sport. He played senior football for Clara and has had a lifelong passion for greyhounds – Barry and Mary's daughter Gemma married Limerick hurler Will O'Donoghue a few weeks ago. The late former Offaly footballer, Peter Nolan was married to Patsy (nee Weir), a sister of Barry's late mother, May.
Barry inherited his love of greyhounds from his father Ber and his grandparents before that, has owned previous greyhounds and is a regular at meetings.
A new pup just starting off, Beranmays Blue won his heat and semi-final in Dundalk the previous two Saturday's before winning the sprint final this Saturday night.