s the western world adjusted to peacetime, British subjects experienced a mini revolution, greater freedoms in dress and
social mobility, which were not confined to the
male members of society, encouraged the young
to adopt more cosmopolitan pastimes in ever
greater numbers. Social reforms, of the previous
decade, had provided improved education and
welfare to the lower classes, encouraged its
benefactors to look beyond their locality’s boundary,
making it more difficult for the landed gentry,
already reeling from an increased tax burden, to
recruit affordable labour for either home or estate,
many, unable to overcome these external pressures, being forced to forsake their natural heritage. Nor was the canine fancy exempt from these changes, as the children and grandchildren of its core supporters aped the aristocracy.
A settlement granting independence to Ireland’s southern counties, whilst preserving the North’s allegiance to the Crown, brought an uneasy peace to a troubled region, although it further curtailed the Kennel Club’s influence, as Southern Irish fanciers struggled to attain a similar freedom. The Dublin Irish Kerry Blue Terrier Club’s decision to go it alone encouraged others to emulate their lead, and by 1921 sufficient enthusiasm had been generated to organize an Irish Kennel Club, which quickly established itself, leaving the Northern Irish counties to Kennel Club control from London.
