Are Irish Foxes A Sub-Spies -And Where Are The Taxidermies?

 

We know that foxhunting was still an elite 'sport' in the early 19th century. In fact, from the late 1830s -into the 1840s there was criticism that as starvation spread through Ireland the sport continued as though nothing was happening.  That should come as no surprise since the English treated the Irish and Welsh as "sub-humans".  Poor people were dying but what had that to do with society's 'sport'?

The Field - Saturday 08 January 1898 reports on fox hunting in Meath and surrounding area and the foxes do not seem to be in the numbers of former years.  An island species relentlessly hunted along with cubbing in which young foxes are thrown to hounds so they "get the taste" and no restraint on killing pregnant vixens means that a population soon drops in numbers. Dullards, however, still see "foxes in abundance!"

As detailed in The Red Paper 2022 Canids the shortage of foxes in Ireland became a problem and as "gifts" English Masters of Fox Hounds sent gifts of Mountain foxes (the largest of the three Old fox types) to Irish MFHs. However, it is unclear whether the shortage of 'sport' was due to foxes in Irelands wet and cold climate were wiped out in the most accessible areas but still continued in more remote areas.  Certainly there were still Mountain foxes captured in rugged areas and transported to hunt areas.

We also know that foxes in Ireland were surviving somewhat better than their English counterparts. In the early 20th century questions were asked in the British Parliament after English hunts committed outrages -having people "steal" foxes from Ireland and brought to England.  This is all detailed in the book and I no longer give out free research so if you want the details...buy the book!

The above photograph from Eire shows a fox with a lot of Old fox traits and I have detailed those here:

Examining An Old Fox and New Fox

https://foxwildcatwolverineproject.blogspot.com/2025/09/examining-old-fox-and-new-fox.html

With t6he submergence of Doggerland 8-10 thousand years ago, mainland Britain was separated from mainland Europe and its wildlife became unique island species.  When the water levels rose again Britain and Ireland were separated by the Irish Sea.  This means that species trapped there had to adapt and become another unique Irish population. I commented on that here:

Old Irish, British and European Foxes -a few words

https://foxwildcatwolverineproject.blogspot.com/2025/04/old-irish-british-and-european-foxes.html

Naturalists have noted that "Irish foxes don';t quite look the same as those from England. No big surprise. In fact, while looking into the "Achill Island Wolves" often referred to by Cryptozoologists (who have yet to understand or undertake "research work") I found foxes there. Achill is a small island on Ireland's south coast  so how did they get there?  Again, this was discussed in The Red Paper. What this means is that the Achill foxes are another unique island species -although I can find no one on the island or elsewhere willing to discuss them.

There was an interesting article on the number of foxes in Ireland which I looked at here:

Does Ireland Have A Thriving Fox Population -and why?

https://foxwildcatwolverineproject.blogspot.com/2024/10/does-ireland-have-thriving-fox.html

I do not believe that Ireland -Northern or Republic- has a "thriving population" and the vague numbers seem to come from the "usual sources": those who are pro hunt and over exaggerate fox numbers to justify their killing sprees (it is NOT "control" in any way shape or form because if you wanted to control such a population why is the history of the UK and Ireland full of well documented public news items and book references to importing more "for sport"?

The other big source for these figures are pest control companies for who call outs to "deal with foxes" are big money. Their 'knowledge' of the animals (that they brag about) is often incorrect and full of pro hunt jargon disguised as "expert opinion".

Evidence would seem to support the fact that the situation in Northern Ireland and Eire is similar to the mainland UK: urban foxes (with the usual death rates by car and rodenticide) and a dwindling (over exaggerated) population in the countryside.

I have had little success in finding remains of genuine Irish wolves that could one day be DNA studied but I would expect there to be a number of taxidermy examples of foxes killed across the island pre 1860. It is just finding people who have them and are willing to communicate!

I proved, based on contemporary accounts,  back in 2000 that there were wild cats in Ireland. The Red Paper 2022 Felids provided the physical evidence of their existence -something archaeology is now proving.  I hope that in 2026 I can at least succeed in finding evidence of Old foxes in Ireland.

But then there is the question of who will pay for DNA testing?