About the NICKCS Club

This Club was the brainchild of Mrs. Yvonne Doherty who felt that, with the exception of only Belfast Ch Show and the Irish Kennel Club Ch shows, Northern Ireland exhibitors had very few opportunities to compete at Championship level.

The idea of forming a club was first muted in 1977 and despite a certain degree of skepticism in the early days, the Club gained Kennel Club recognition in 1979. In the beginning a small band of enthusiasts held meetings at the Doherty’s home at Jordanstown with Yvonne serving as the first Secretary and the late Mr. Jack Kennedy as Chairman and Mrs. Amy Nugent as President. Mrs. Nugent is still president of the Club today and some the founder members are still active on committee today.

Initially only open shows were held in conjunction with the other Toy breeds as we did not have sufficient numbers for a single breed show and we still run an open Toy show each autumn.

1984 was a landmark in the Club’s history as the Kennel Club had granted the club Championship status and we held our first Championship Show at the Edenmore Hotel Whiteabbey. The judge on that occasion was Mrs. Virginia Barwell and BIS was a young Roger Calladine with Alansmere Rhett Butler. Since 1984 our Ch Show has been held annually on the last Saturday in April, except when we have to change every few years to the first Saturday in May to avoid clashing with Toy day at WELKS.  

We try to run a relaxed and friendly show with our many mainland visitors often coming over for a short break. In recent years the show has been held at The Halfway House Hotel, Ballygally Larne, a picturesque setting on the Antrim coast with superb views of the Scottish coast.   The Club had a very enjoyable Millennium Show which was a double celebration as we were also celebrating our 21st Birthday, judged by Mrs. Pam Thornhill of the well known Kindrum Cavaliers.