ON FEBRUARY 19th 1870, the very first edition of The Irish Field hit the shelves and on Wednesday, the current in-house team celebrated 150 years, quite a milestone in print media.

Just two surviving Irish national newspapers pre-date The Irish Field – The Irish Times and the Examiner – and we are the longest running sporting publication in the country. Despite facing obviously challenges with the rise online media sites, the paper continues to thrive with 70,000 weekly print readers, based on 2019 TGI data.

Among many well wishes flowing in this week, many readers mentioned the honour they feel when seeing their picture or name feature in The Irish Field on a Saturday, be it in the results section, on the hunting field or in the international show jumping pages.

As the media landscape continues to change, we endeavour to bring you factual, reliable and up-to-date industry news weekly. 2020 will be a massive year for Ireland with three equestrian teams qualified for the Tokyo Olympic Games and we look forward to making it one to remember for The Irish Field, as well as remaining loyal to the domestic scene which is the backbone of the industry.

Chairman of The Agricultural Trust, Matt Dempsey, spoke about the publication on its 150th birthday, saying: “The Irish Field has established itself as a critical world player in the commentary and coverage of the thoroughbred scene on a world scale and the sport horse industry. Long may The Irish Field continue to see its role as reflecting what is happening right across the world and have customers and buyers right across the world, in this pivotal sector of the Irish economy.”

See page 42 for more on the 150 year history of The Irish Field.