Our Smyth Bros. (Kenyon)Colony

This is very much a colony of birds which have proven themselves on race routes into Ireland, and in that respect, could be considered almost a separate strain to the “Old Black Pied Kenyons” from the UK, in fact, word has it that the Black Pieds which arrived and were bred from the imports from the UK were in fact bred out of the colony by the Smyth Bros. as they didn’t rate them as highly as other lines within the colony.

Many fanciers will know of Jackie Patience, The Cassidy Family, Malcolm Robinson, Carson & Woodside, Carson & Sons and Arnold Thompson who flew either straight or crossed families of the Kenyons and won many National honours over the last 40 years or more with these extraordinarily tough, long distance birds – indeed, some of these performances would make the originators of this strain very proud today.

There are few other strains of birds which have had such a long lasting impact on long distance racing into Ireland from the classical racepoints of the South of England and North Western France. This continues to recent racing performances as proven by the Carson Family who won the 2019 St. Malo race from France with their Blue Hen “Lily Penny”. The Carson’s have been acquiring and developing their colony of racing pigeons since the 1940’s and have records of purchasing birds from the Smyth Bros. since the 1950’s.

Leslie Woodside was another fancier who has had a veritable “book” of performances based, in the main, on their colony of Smyth Bros. Kenyons, acquired and developed over many years. Their clearance sale in 2010 split the family up, but did create more minor colonies of these Kenyons with what was a fantastic sale of Kenyon blood and genetics at that time. We have been lucky to acquire some super lines of this colony through Malcolm Robinsons collection of Kenyons and through many more minor acquisitions over the years. The sales book of that auction is regarded as a living history of the progress of the strain and the performances gained over a 40 year period.

Our colony has been put together with significant and particular birds from the Woodside colony, the Carson Colony and the Robinson colony. Many of these birds are very much inter-related and exhibit all that is great about this strain with sons, daughters, sisters and brothers of many of the principle performance birds which were successful from the racing from France and the UK, winning Hall Of Fame, Old Bird Derbies and lots of top prizes in the INFC and NIPA.