Northern Ireland

The 15-year-old pigeon fancier from Co Down who is shaking up the sport

Pigeon fancying has long been associated as a pursuit of middle-aged men but one Co Down teenager is changing the sport's male and stale image. Claire Simpson reports.

Keelie Wright with her pigeons at home in Magheralin. Picture by Hugh Russell
Keelie Wright with her pigeons at home in Magheralin. Picture by Hugh Russell Keelie Wright with her pigeons at home in Magheralin. Picture by Hugh Russell

FOR 15-year-old Keelie Wright, pigeon fancying is in the blood. Aged just four, she started going to a club with her father and her grandfather, near her home in the village of Magheralin.

Aged just 10, she applied to join the Lurgan Social Homing Pigeon Society - becoming its youngest and the club's first female member.

Now Keelie is to star in a new CBBC documentary, made by Belfast-based Tyrone Productions, about the highs and lows of breeding, showing and racing pigeons.

The teenager said she had been heavily influenced by her 86-year-old grandfather Eamon, who had kept pigeons since before she was born.

"From when I was four I started going round to the pigeon club with my dad (Eamon) and granda," she said. "I would go with them to get out of the house."

She said she began taking the sport more seriously around five years ago and applied to be a full member of the club.

"Every member in the club has to take a vote on it and you're either in or you're not," she said.

"I was going to the club for two to tree years before I put my application in so they all knew me."

The teenager, whose two older sisters do not share her involvement in the sport, said her interest in pigeons has grown over the years.

"I'd say I'm more interested in them now than I was," she said. "I am paying more attention to how they are flying and how they do velocities (the number of yards or metres a bird can travel per minute).

"With the pigeon shows I know what I have to do now.

"You have to make sure there's no dirt, they have to be sparkling clean."

She keeps up to 200 pigeons at a loft in her grandfather's house, spending time with the birds every day after school and several hours at weekends.

Keelie said she equally enjoys racing and showing her pigeons.

"I have the excitement on a race day but I love the buzz of the shows too," she said.

One of her favourite birds is Kelvin, who was bred specially for her by a fellow fancier in her Lurgan club, and helped her scoop a big show prize.

Another of the birds has won Keelie a string of Royal Pigeon Racing Association awards.

Despite her success she said people are often surprised that a girl of her age is involved in the sport.

"I'd say not many people believe until I explain it to them," she said. "Everyone I have met in the pigeon world has been really supportive because they're looking for more young people to come in and girls too. It's really seen as an older man's sport."

:: My Life: My Pigeons and Me will be broadcast on CBBC on Tuesday February 25 at 5.30pm and 7.35pm