It is with great sadness that NPS members learnt that one of The Society’s greatest supporters, Bill Ireland, passed away on 15th January at Blanefield House Care Home after a long illness. He was a former Council member for almost a decade during which time he held the post of Treasurer and President (2018), a position which he held with great pride.
Bill was one of four children brought up in the Colchester area where his parents farmed and later owned the largest department store in Colchester itself. The family diversified their interests in 1985 by purchasing the Achineden Estate which is situated north of Glasgow near the village of Blanefield. This brought Bill to Scotland, where he remained for the rest of his life despite the sale of the estate in 1990, the same year that he met his life-long partner, Catherine Farrell.
It was during this time that Bill bought an unregistered pony for driving but soon looked for something better to drive and show. His selection was a young Dales colt named Slaypits Black Magic, a pony which would take Bill to the very highest level as both an exhibitor and breeder. Time would tell that Bill never settled for second best and this remarkable stallion launched Bill into the limelight within the in hand show ring round the shows of Central Scotland and took the first of many Mountain and Moorland championships at the Royal Highland Show in 1995. It is a remarkable fact that by 2012 Slaypits Black Magic would achieve the amazing record of siring five of the Dales ponies competing at the Horse of the Year Show all bearing the Kilmannan prefix for which Bill became famous,
Bill set about gathering a group of well-bred mares for his newly formed stud of Dales ponies with the selection of Trimdod Black Velvet either a stroke of genius or good luck. Time would tell that it was surely the former. An ideal partner for Black Magic, this mare bred a dynasty of show champions both in hand and under saddle which took the show ring by storm and placed the Dales breed in a position not previously known. Bill bred a type of Dales pony, full of quality with riding rather than driving action well suited to the ridden Mountain and Moorland classes.
Breeding for purpose was at the heart of Bill’s breeding programme with Richard Telford chosen as the person to take the Kilmannan ponies to the top in the show ring. This he did with amazing success accounting for major titles across Britain as well as HOYS and Olympia. He was an obvious choice of producer when Bill decided to diversify his interests into the Suffolk horse breed, which he knew as a child. As he came to the end of his breeding career, Bill also entrusted the last of his Dales ponies to Richard.
Bill was a keen ringside supporter. Those who met Bill found a quiet, modest, friendly enthusiast who enjoyed both his ponies and his success, which he bore with great humility. He was very generous in his sponsorship and freely gave of his time for the NPS. Without doubt an outstanding breeder and exhibitor of any native breed in recent times, Bill Ireland and his Kilmannan ponies have earned their place in native pony history.
The NPS wishes to extend its deepest sympathy to his immediate family in Essex as well as Catherine and his close friends in Scotland. TB