The golfer expects to find many things during an Ireland golf trip, but it’s safe to say that goats aren’t one of them. At Lahinch Golf Club in Southwest Ireland, however, they’re a unique and unforgettable part of the experience. During a recent visit to Lahinch, we sat down with Paddy Keane, the club’s General Manager, to learn the story behind these famous and multi-talented goats.
This story originally appeared as part of an episode of On the Tee with H&B. The entirety of the interview, including much more insight from Lahinch, can be found here.
“When the golf club was founded in 1892, local people used to allow donkeys, sheep, and goats to graze on the golf course. If you visit some of the pubs in town, you might see a framed poster which is a bylaw banning donkeys from the golf course in the early 1900’s.
There was a caddie named Tommy Walsh who lived behind the 3rd tee box in the village in the 20s and 30s. He had goats and he would allow them out during the daytime and bring them back into the stables at night. When he passed away the goats were out on the golf course and remained that way.
I know people think this is an old wives’ tale, but it’s really not. When the goats are out and about on the course, you’re going to have beautiful sunshine and lovely weather, so you can judge what’s going to happen weather-wise. When the goats are near the clubhouse, beware: there’s probably rain or a storm coming in.
In the 1960’s, we had a barometer in the clubhouse and it broke. Our famous Secretary Manager at the time, Brud Slattery, rather than repairing the barometer simply opened it up and wrote “See goats.”
So the goats are a part of the club, they’re our emblem. We have four at present and to celebrate our 125 years of golf at Lahinch, we commissioned a bronze statue of the Rampant Goat. The statue sits outside the clubhouse and is a great selfie moment for all of our visitors.”
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