Susan Finnerty

IRELAND’s longest serving veterinary surgeon and noted breeder Jack Powell (101) passed away on Friday morning.

Born in Toomevara in 1913, Jack graduated in 1936 and worked in England for Major Charlie Townsend and then with the Ministry of Agriculture during the 1938 outbreak of foot and mouth disease. He volunteered for the Royal Air Force in 1942 where he served as a flying instructor and returned to Tipperary in 1947 to set up his own practice.

Jack and his late wife Sheila bred and produced a number of winners including the 1976 Cheltenham Gold Cup winner Royal Frolic, a former Dublin yearling show champion, and the Rome Olympic bronze medal winner.

Their sons Charles and John, also contributed selflessly to the Irish horse world with both serving as INHS Committee members and race stewards. John, who followed his father’s career, is a former president of the Veterinary Council, while Charles has served on the RDS Equestrian Committee and as President of the Equestrian Federation of Ireland.

A staunch advocate of traditional Irish breeding, as well as being a brilliant raconteur with an encyclopedic knowledge of bloodlines, Jack was the first chairman of the Irish Shows Association. He was such a loyal Volkswagen customer – owning over 40 various models since his first purchase in 1953 – that the company gave him his last car as a gift.