Irish Donkey Society Exhibition

Sunday, August 21st

RDS Ring 1 from 4pm to 4.40pm

RDS Main Arena from 14.35pm to 14.45pm

EVER popular with the Dublin crowds, The Irish Donkey Society will once again stage a spectacular display of donkeys and carriages at the RDS showgrounds on Sunday, August 21st.

The first chance to see the iconic donkeys will be in the Main Arena just after 2.30pm where a parade of donkey and horse drawn vehicles will take place before the grandstands.

You can also see the donkeys taking centre stage in Ring 1 that Sunday afternoon at 4pm which they always attract a big crowd, eager to see what’s always an eye-catching display, and the chance to see these gentle, passive animals up close.

50th anniversary

Celebrating their 50th anniversary this year is The Irish Donkey Society which was formed in 1972 to improve donkey welfare and awareness nationwide. Chaired by Alistair Graham, the IDS has held special donkey events at some of the country’s popular agricultural shows this summer to mark their milestone anniversary. The mission of the Society is to preserve and protect these wonderful animals, improve their status, and show people what donkeys can do with some training for leisure and enjoyment purposes.

Donkey sanctuaries

Donkey numbers have been in very serious decline across Ireland in the last 150 years.

In the 1880s, there were 250,000 working donkeys on Irish farms nationwide but that number had fallen to 128,000 by the end of World War II in 1945. There is less than 7,000 donkeys and mules left in Ireland today with less than 5,000 breeding females nationwide.

The Irish Donkey Sanctuary, based in Liscarroll, Co Cork and The Donkey Society Belfast are two of the best known sanctuaries for these special equines who have long played such an important role in Irish life, history and folklore.