Like other sighthounds, Irish wolfhounds are thin, wiry, and not a little bit tall. Indeed, wolfhounds are the tallest of the Tall Dogs. In personality, I have no complaints: they are intelligent, respond well to training, and get along with people so well that they often make terrible guard dogs. They are very unlikely to eat a small child, and that is a definite improvement over the Original Wolf™. 

Unfortunately, wolfhounds look unkempt and scraggly, like they just got out of a week-long bender. This is not a dog which cares about maintaining a professional appearance. They mostly die of bone cancer, which is less the fault of bad genes than of size (other large dogs are also prone to bone cancer), but they also have a predisposition to heart problems which does seem genetic in nature. 

Irish wolfhounds are perfectly adequate dogs, but they need to dress for the job they want, not the job they have, and their numerous genetic bottlenecks (with subsequent inbreeding) are also a cause for concern.

Rating: ★★ out of ★★★ (Fine)

Original post (w/ more pictures) here.