The Londonderry Arms Hotel is also associated
with another unique bit of Irish history. If you missed first part about the history of this hotel, CLICK HERE. In the pub room you’ll find
photographs of one of Ireland’s most famous race horse of the 1960’s, Arkle. A
national legend whose strength was claimed to have come from drinking Guinness
twice a day, the horse was owned by Anne Grosvenor, the Duchess of Westminster,
affectionately “Nancy” around the race course, whose husband was the richest
man in England and a close friend of Winston Churchill, a horse owner himself.
Now the story goes that if you rub your finger
over the horse shoe and then buy a lottery tickets you are sure to win! I rubbed the horse shoe but as I do not
gamble, so did not buy a lottery ticket although some of the volunteers from
Mount Stewart who were on this trip did!
Arkle’s skeleton can curiously still be seen on display at the Irish National Stud Museum in Kildare, Ireland east of Dublin and I was fortunate to have visited there and taken this photograph of it.
Many
thanks for visiting and also for leaving any comments.
Goodness, they have his skeleton on display!!! Arkle must have been truly beloved.
ReplyDeleteand did they win ? I have heard of this before. Lucky horse shoe
ReplyDeleteSuch a very interesting story. The skeleton is a curious exhibit. Thank you for the post Margaret.
ReplyDeleteHello, the skeleton on display seems strange. I would try my luck with the horseshoe and lottery ticket. Happy Wednesday, enjoy your day!
ReplyDeleteHow curious to have Ankle's skeleton on display. Seems a bit morbid. A photograph and silver plaque might have honored the horse in grand style without the skeleton, but then it is almost Halloween.
ReplyDeleteA fascinating post...really interesting way to honor this wonderful horse.
ReplyDeleteInteresting story! Funny that they preserved the horse's skeleton.
ReplyDeleteHow fun to see what other people think is important enough to keep around!
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