History of the Irish Fancy Canary Society
This is the story of the Irish Fancy Canary Society on how it was formed and where it is today. In the beginning the Irish Fancy Canary was known as the Roller Canary and at the time was very competitive. The roller classes provided then were smaller; consequently, the numbers in each class were quite large. At that time judges performed the task of placing awards according to what pleased them, since there was no recognized standard of excellence laid down due to the non existence of a specialist society. The formation of the I.F.C.S in 1975 introduced and adopted a standard of excellence and the Irish fancy canary came into existence. It was difficult in the beginning as show cages came in all shapes and sizes. The introduction of a standard show cage was met with a lot of opposition from members and were slow to conform with the new specifications laid down. A two-year transition was allowed for the change over and it was eventually accepted.
The influx of new members to the society is still increasing yearly. In the early years The Aviculture Society of Ireland was a committee of delegates of the cage bird societies in Ireland who held meetings and staged the National show for many years. This Committee appointed 5 judges to set a standard for the Irish Fancy Canary in 1974 at a meeting held in Dublin. Those present on that day were Eddie Darcy founder member of the society who still to this day is a very active member of the club, he has helped promote the society both at home and abroad and is a well known judge north and south of Ireland. Other former members present that day were Bill Garnet, Jimmy Hogan, Lily Claffey,and a team of Irish Fancy Canaries from all over Ireland, the bird with the best standard type to the Irish Fancy Canary was a yellow cock belonging to J. Jones.
On that day in 1974 the Irish fancy was born.
The Irish Fancy canary as the name suggests is peculiar to Ireland and to southern Ireland in particular, and has now gained similar popularity in Northern Ireland due to the excellent promotion of the Irish Fancy Canary by Paul O’Kane and the late Robert Swann. The original Irish fancy canary was in fact a Roller Canary, and indeed was known as the Irish Roller for many years. Nowadays, however they should not be confused in any way with the roller canary which is of course strictly a bird of song. The Irish Fancy were first shown as type birds a long the east coast of Ireland, particularly in the town and county of Wexford and one of the early devotees of the bird as a type bird was J.Jones of Wexford town. As time passed however the popularity of the Irish fancy spread all over the country. Initially there was no standard of judging, normally judges looked for the neatest and perhaps the most colorful bird as first prize winner. However, as time passed a type bird started to emerge and fanciers and judges began to agree on the type of the bird they were looking for as an exhibition Irish Fancy Canary.
In February 1975 several of the more devoted fanciers got together and formed The Irish Fancy Canary Society whose aim it was to promote the Irish Fancy Canary as a show bird of type and the show cage was fully accepted countrywide and in those days the odd non standard would still end up at shows.
The society has contributed in no small way to the development of the Irish Fancy Canary and the dream of the first president Ned Meagher has now been realized to see the Irish fancy canary at the National Exhibition of Cage&Aviary Birds but now it has gone further afield, in 2008 at Hasselt Belgium the Irish Fancy canary was accepted at the world show, through excellent work by Eddie Darcy & Maurice O Connor whom I must say has put a lot of time and energy into promoting the Irish Fancy Canary in both Great Britain and on the world stage i.e. the world show. Since then the Irish Fancy Canary has spread its wings worldwide, to the following countries Italy Germany, Belgium, Holland Spain & France, they are also in America thanks to the great work of Brian Byrne & Paul Cruise who imported the first shipment of Irish fancies to America with the help of Maurice O`Connor.
The Irish Fancy Canary is available in all the usual colors and no colour feeding is permitted or necessary and given a good moult these birds can show themselves to their best advantage in a standard show cage. The Irish Fancy canary must be close rung with society rings which is strictly enforced under club rules. At present 750 birds are being exhibited at our Annual show which is held in conjunction with the Arklow Bird Keepers Society each November.
Since those days back in the 70’s a lot of changes have taken place with the society, the show cage has got a complete overhaul with bosses added to the perches and a carrying hole added to the cage as well and a change of colour. The standard of The Irish Fancy has been improved as well with regard to type, colour and feather quality and these improvements have been helped immensely by such people as Tim Watson (Rip), Noel Perryman (Rip), Johnny Southern (Rip) Eddie Darcy, John Dowling, Bernard O Brien, John Kealy, Garvan McGee & Chairman John Barron along with our long time Secretary Tom O`Regan who makes sure everything runs smoothly whilst not forgetting our counterparts in Northern Ireland & England especially Paul O`Kane who does outstanding work promoting the bird in Northern Ireland.
The Society is going from strength to strength. Over the years many people have put a lot of their time into the promotion and development of The Irish Fancy canary. Some of these people have gone to the great aviary in the sky, others have retired from the hobby for one reason or another, but when you meet those fanciers that have retired, they will always ask how is the fancy keeping.
The society’s 50th anniversary has being held in conjunction with the Arklow&District Bird keepers Society on the 15th & 16th November 2025 and is been judged by Paul O’Kane, John Barron & John Vaughan, the first 50 exhibitors entered will receive a commemorative medallion from the club to mark the occasion.
Anybody requiring more information about our lovely little bird why not contact Tom O’Regan
P.R.O. I.F.C.S.
0872400276
Mrs. Carmel Bolger
At the inaugural A.G.M. held in 1976 Mrs. C. Bolger was appointed Secretary and was secretary until her untimely passing in 2013, her husband Matt was treasurer for many years. As secretary to the club she did immense work for the society. Not only did she take membership for the society, she also supplied rings to exhibitors and did all paperwork for society shows and also helped in presenting prizes at shows, she was truly a remarkable woman for all the work she did for the society. Mrs. Bolger attended the English national on many occasions promoting the society.