Irish Wolfhounds

The Irish Wolfhound is a historic sighthound dog breed from Ireland that has, by its presence and substantial size, inspired literature, poetry and mythology. Like all sighthounds, it is used to hunt game by speed, and historically has also been famed as a guard dog specialising in protection against and for the hunting of wolves, from which its name derives.
The original dog-type was presumed extinct by most authors of the 18th and 19th century, but was re-introduced by George Graham in the late 19th century, crossing the descendants of the original breed with various similar breeds. The modern breed, classified by recent genetic research into the Sighthound United Kingdom Rural Clade (Fig. S2), has been used by coursing hunters who have prized it for its ability to kill game caught by other, swifter sighthounds.