We have now retired from Showing and Breeding, but this is our story.

The Affix was registered in 1974, but we did not breed our first litter until 1987. This came from our first Show Champion - Fearnley Fireheather of Kirkavagh. Purchased as an eight week old puppy from Pat and Barry Rhodes, she won 6CC’s and 4 Res CC’s and her JW.

There have since been 13 home bred Kirkavagh UK Show Champions and one NZ Champion ( the only puppy we have ever exported) plus 2 other CC winners, all descending from Fireheather. Our Affix has now been carried by the winners of 86 CC’s & 86 RCC’s and 40 KCSB entrants in the UK. We are very proud to have been UK Top Breeders in 2001, 2002 & 2004. We are also enormously proud of our Sh Ch Zabara, who was Hills/Dog World Top Brood Bitch ALL Breeds in 2001.

Fireheather produced our first home bred Show Champion - Kirkavagh Corejada (6CC’s, 7 RCC’s), and her brother, Kirkavagh Fireboy, (winner of 1CC & 2 RCC’s). Subsequent litters contained the dual RCC winner Kirkavagh Ragotsky and Sh Ch Kirkavagh Musidora (the only bitch in a litter of six), winner of 4CC’s and 3 RCC’s. Fireheather lived to be almost 15.

Sh Ch Corejada produced our beautiful Sh Ch Kirkavagh Zabara, (9CC’s, 10 ResCC’s) and RCC winner K. Valoris, who produced JW winners K Corrida and K Carnegie.

Zabara produced just two litters, both by Sh Ch Caspians Intrepid, in the first, came the four Sh Ch’s; Kirkavagh Khaydara JW, Kirkavagh Kalaglow JW, Kirkavagh Kooyonga 16CC’s, and Kirkavagh Kandy J.W. (also a South African Ch, when her owner moved there.) This was just the third time in the Breed’s History that this had been achieved. (It has since been equalled and may even yet be surpassed, by a fourth litter, and with lowering entries all the time, may well be achieved a lot more in time. It is so sad that the first breeder to achieve this feat, Mrs Walker, was virtually ignored by the Breed Correspondents of the time, which almost assigned that litter forgotten in to History, and made it seem that the second litter to achieve it was actually the first... She would surely have been disappointed, as I know that we were, when our own litter was not exactly ‘cheered from the rooftops’. It is hard to watch others achieve greater fame for just equalling!!

Another member of our K litter, Karamita, was the dam of Townsend’s Sh Ch Follidown Red Hot Poker JW.
Zabara’s second litter of three pups contained just one bitch who became Sh Ch Kirkavagh Lalibela JW.

Sh Ch Kirkavagh Musidora had just one litter and we kept the delightful dual RCC winner Kirkavagh Gazala, who, when mated to Intrepid, produced Sh Ch Kirkavagh Fidalgo JW (13 CC’s, 12 Res CC’s Gundog Group SKC (Aug) 2004), and his sister Kirkavagh Frivola 1CC & 2RCC’s. Gazala’s second litter, by Sh Ch Kirkavagh Kalaglow, produced KCSB entrants - K Neolanta and K Nikellora, who was the dam of 2 separate CC winners.

Fidalgo JW and Lalibela JW together produced the beautiful Sh Ch Kirkavagh Jumilla JW, who became our fifth generation Sh Ch female, in direct descent from Fireheather. This was an important litter for the future as Jumilla’s litter sister, KCSB entrant Jakomima, was the dam of Sh Ch Kirkavagh Ivanjica JW (by Clachnahar Ami Pierrot JW) as well as Championship Show first prize winning litter mates Iliona, Intermezzo, Istabraq and Ivoroski and In The Groove (BPIS at the ISAE Centenary October Open Show). A repeat of this mating contained RCC winner Kirkavagh Hernando ShCM and Championship Show first prize winners, Helissio and Hula Dancer.

Jumilla had two litters of three puppies by Clachnahar Ami Pierrot, her oldest daughter Sh Ch Kirkavagh Ebadiyla JW gained her title in 2015, and became our sixth generation Sh Ch Female in direct descent from Fireheather.

Litter sister Escena was a Championship first prize winner. Jumilla’s second litter contained Championship first prize winners Xakala and Ximena.
The late Sh Ch Kooyonga 16CC’s , 6 RCC’s, won her first two CC’s on consecutive days, was twice BIS at the Setter & Pointer Championship Show in 2001 & 2002 and was Top Irish Setter (Dog World) in 2001. She was the dam of Sh Ch Kirkavagh Bikala JW and two other JW winners, the male K Black Tie Affair and a daughter Kirkavagh Bayakoa JW, who was mated to Clachnahar Ami Pierrot JW and produced Championship Show first Prize winners Kirkavagh The Wizard JW, Wayward Lad, Wheel of Fortune and our own Windmill Girl JW.

Sh Ch Khaydara JW was dam of the RCC winner Stravinsky and 5 other Championship Show first prize winners here and of New Zealand Ch Kirkavagh Priolo at Marindallas, who sired Champions in New Zealand, his litter sister, our own Primera JW won 2 RCC’s but unfortunately did not produce any live progeny.

Sh Ch Kirkavagh Kalaglow JW sired a Sh Ch and a number of RCC winners.

Sh Ch Ivanjica JW, had one litter from which we retained Kirkavagh Zenyatta JW, who won one RCC before we decided to retire and is perhaps unlucky not to have been campaigned further. Our fault!

We only ever bred occasionally, from mature, winning bitches, carefully selecting stud dogs to suit, both mentally and physically.
Our dogs all live in the house and our puppies were all reared in the house, we would not have expected our youngsters to move to a kennel environment.
Unfortunately we did not consider export, unless to someone personally known to us.

All our breeding stock was hereditarily clear of PRA rcd1 and CLAD, and tested for PRA rcd4.

Linda first awarded CC’s in Irish Setters in 1994 and was honoured to judge Irish Setter Bitches at Crufts in 2010. She has also judged in Australia, Sweden, Belgium and both Islands in New Zealand. She is also approved by The Kennel Club to award CC’s in Gordon Setters and Irish Red & White Setters, she is currently the Treasurer of The Irish Setter Association and also serves as a Committee Member of LKA.

Having lost five of our dogs during 2020, we now have just two Irish Setters.