About the Irish Wolfhound Club of America

The Irish Wolfhound Club of America, Inc. is the AKC parent club for Irish Wolfhounds, serving as guardian of this magnificent breed. The club is responsible for determining the official breed standard and encouraging the acceptance of that standard by its members, breeders and judges.

The IWCA was founded in 1926. The first meeting of club was held at the 1927 Westminster Kennel Club show in New York City. The first stand-alone specialty was held in 1953 at Mr. Amory L. Haskell’s Woodland Farms in Red Bank, New Jersey. Prior to that the club supported the entry at Westminster Kennel Club, held at Madison Square Garden, and at one other all breed show, usually an outdoor show. At the first meeting, officers of the club were elected. Mrs. Norwood Browning Smith became president, and a governing committee consisted of Charles Daly, Robert Hare Davis, E. Francis Riggs, Mrs. N.B. Smith and Mr. L.O. Starbuck, who was also appointed honorary secretary-treasurer, a post he held until his death.

The first official publication (other than the By-Laws which were adopted on June 2, 1926) was the 1927-28 Club Book, four in total were published. A Bulletin was then put out on a regular basis. Harp and Hound, first published in 1949, succeeded the Bulletin as the official club magazine.

This page was last updated 07/11/2021.