Noel Mullins photoThe passing of Michael Higgens earlier this year is a huge loss to the hunting world. He was truly gifted in every aspect of our great sport—exceptional huntsman, horseman, hound breeder, judge, raconteur. He found his true life’s vocation in foxhunting, and he found his true soul-mate in Yvonne McClintock, a partnership that stood the test of time.
Only last November, the Tipperary Foxhounds made a presentation to Michael, their former Master and huntsman, on his fiftieth season hunting with the Tipps. I interviewed Michael on a number of occasions, and he kindly penned the foreword for a book I wrote some years ago on biographies of thirty-one equestrian personalities, some living, and others that had passed on. He described my book as featuring “The departed, those about to depart, and those with no intention of departing”! I don’t think Shakespeare could have matched that for word-craft. Michael could always effortlessly find the most fitting expressions for every occasion.
Michael was an iconic figure in foxhunting and hound breeding in Ireland. Over his career he had hunted the East Galway, Ormond, Island, Kilmoganny, Avondhu and the Tipperary Foxhounds. But it was his eighteen seasons as Master and huntsman of the Tipperary that set a standard that probably will never be achieved again. He hunted 2,095 consecutive hunting days without missing a day. When I asked what he did when he had a fall or was sick, he replied, “The committee expected you to be there to hunt the hounds, and that was it.” He constantly referred to the hunt followers as the ‘customers,’ and that summed up his attitude to a day’s sport.
Originally from Sussex in England, he attended his first meet as a four-year-old with the Puckeridge Hounds in Hertfordshire. He later whipped-in to Captain Charles Barclay whom he regarded as his ideal stamp of huntsman, and from there to the Findon Harriers in Australia. Michael was a stockbroker in London, but in 1968 at age twenty-seven, he decided that there was more to life than money, and with encouragement from Thady Ryan, Master and huntsman of the Scarteen, he applied and was successful in being appointed huntsman of the Island Foxhounds in Wexford. Julian Spring was Master, and hounds were still in the old kennels at Rockmount. The countryside was different; Michael was used to dykes, ditches, and plough country in the Puckeridge, whereas the Island enclosures were bounded by single and double banks. He had taken two ponies and a horse over to Ireland, and he used the summer to get them used to the banks. Rosemary Skrine who was honorary secretary of the Island Foxhounds whipped-in to him.
Michael said she was a terrific horsewoman, and knew every farmer in the country having previously hunted with Mrs. Olive Hall’s Carlow Foxhounds, and also as Joint-Master of the Shillelagh & District Foxhounds. Agriculture was at low ebb in the 1960s, and a lot of land lay unused as it was impossible to make money out of it. He recalled seeing a farmer ploughing land one day, and taking his horse from under the plough harness, mounting up bareback and deciding instead to go hunting with him.
Having enjoyed the Island hunting country he left to accept an offer to get the East Galways restarted with Donald Swan. There was great enthusiasm in the area, and he was assisted by the Kennys, Horsmans, Stephen and June Powell, and former Galway Blazers Joint-Master Shirley Ringling-North, who whipped into him. He lodged with Roderick Trench whose father was a great polo player. Some of the country was difficult, with wire, bogs, and drains, but the ponies being short coupled and sensible learned very quickly. With Michael riding at around nine stone, he could use ponies or horses to hunt hounds.
There was excellent stone wall country, especially around Taughmaconnell between Athlone and Ballinasloe. He got hounds from the Island, the Blazers, and a bi*ch called Willing from the Puckeridge who had twelve pups. One of the highlights was reopening the old Lissnacody banks racecourse which ran over nine farms. One lap measured three and a half miles. They ran five races and a member’s race in full hunting turnout of red coats and top hats. Those were the memorable days of foxhunting in Galway, with Brian Fanshawe hunting the Blazers, Lady Mollie Cusack-Smith hunting the Birmingham and North Galway, and Michael hunting the East Galways. He took over the Ormond Foxhounds as Master and huntsman in addition to the East Galways in succession to Arthur Dalgety who died in office. In 1971 the annual hunting trip to Westport began with an invitation initially from Bay de Courcy Parry better known as the hunting author/journalist, Dalesman.
In 1973 Michael took over the Tipperary Foxhounds which had great support both locally and through the American connections of Mrs E. Miles Valentine of Mr Stewart’s Cheshire Foxhounds in Pennsylvania, and other foxhunters around the world that heard of Michael Higgens’s reputation. He was autumn hunting six days a week and foxhunting four days a week during the season. He still found time to play football for Rosegreen, training on Tuesday and Thursday evenings with a game on Sunday. He was sole Master with Mickey Flanagan and Pat O’Brien whipping-in. The two were amongst the longest serving whips in Ireland, and Michael remarked that the continuity of service made it easier to hunt as they knew everybody and every blade of grass in the area. He would let one whip drop back occasionally to see that stock stayed settled as they hunted through the country. They had twelve hunt horses and eighty couple of hounds, of which fifty-six couple were hunting. The emphasis was on bi*ches with draft outcross stallion hounds.
Michael’s predecessor, Captain Evan Williams who rode the Aintree Grand National winner Royal Mail in 1937, acquired one of the most effective outcross doghounds, Portman Lorimer, who had not yet been spotted in England. Captain Williams put Lorimer to twenty Tipperary bi*ches. Michael had hunting friends in Britain like Johnny O’Shea and Charles Barclay who attended all his puppy shows, and if they spotted a suitable stallion hound they would contact him. He wanted hounds with quality, steady, with size, class, and a good home track record. Because Tipperary was difficult scenting country for hounds they had to have balance and make few mistakes, with the minimum number of checks and without over-running a line. Later he got another outcross in Exmoor Tindle. The legacy of the breeding policy is reflected in the FE, FR, CA, and BA blood lines that still exist in the Tipperary kennels.
Michael’s emphasis was in having hounds that would keep the ‘customers’ happy. He said that if the doghounds needed a bit of ‘stirring’ he would put some ‘ladies’ (bi*ches) with them on a day’s hunting to get them concentrating on their job. He won Three Irish Masters of Foxhounds Championships while hunting the Kilmoganny, and thirteen Doghound and twenty-one Bi*ch IMFA Championships, including winning all the classes on the card for two successive years while with the Tipperary. Successes at Peterborough included best young doghound with Petersham, and best couple and two couple of bi*ches with full sisters of Growler.
The Tipps were a hard riding field with ‘Mouse’ Morris, Tim Hyde, Aidan Kennedy, Sue Perry, Mrs. Gene O’Brien, and Danny, Tommy, Thomas, Jayo, and Paul Kinane in the field. With a smile on his face Michael commented that when hounds were flying the ‘customers’ never got a breather. He had to have horses that could jump, especially in Ballingarry country. Hard riding hunt staff could not avoid falling occasionally in a four-day-a-week country, so Michael, because he was jumping first all the time, usually won the prize in the kennels, with up to twenty-five falls a season. After a hunt Michael and his hunt staff would join the fencers as he termed it, “to put the country to bed,” making sure all fences were repaired and stock checked before they went home, so that farmers were happy.
Michael Higgens earned his green Irish International blazer for eventing when he partnered Rosemary Skrine’s homebreds Rubena and Paradise Walk at Tidworth and Punchestown. The latter was later ridden by Major Eddie Boylan in the European Championships. He recalled the late Bill Buller who was on the Irish team splitting his saddle on the cross country phase. He handed the saddle to the mounted steward and carried on bareback.
Michael retired from hunting hounds in 1999 as he believed that amateur huntsman should retire at fifty and professionals at fifty-five, and continued hunting in the field. In November, 2003, he went for a blood test and was diagnosed with kidney disease, requiring dialysis three days a week in Ardkeen Hospital in Waterford where 198 patients were on dialysis each week. In between dialysis he continued to hunt, often three days a week. Fortunately he was put on the transplant list and got a call one Saturday morning. He had to cancel a party he was having on Sunday to go for a transplant operation in Beaumont Hospital in Dublin at eight o’clock that night. He said that nothing was too much trouble for the medical and nursing staff. He felt a deep sense of appreciation for donors, and those who carry donor cards, for the gift of that quality of life that they can give to those that are in need of donor kidneys. He described it personally as getting his freedom back.
Foxhunting in Ireland was so fortunate that a young stockbroker in London in 1968 decided that there was more to life than money, and swapped it for quality of life and the pursuit of his passion in the Irish countryside. Michael was described by his two former whippers-in, Pat O’Brien and Mickey Flanagan, as a gentleman who had respect for horses, hounds, and people. Another young huntsman stated that Michael Higgens was the man he always wanted to be. What a compliment. He leaves a legacy of standards of hunting, courtesy to farmers, a deep respect for friends and his ‘customers’ that lives on.
Michael’s cremation service was held privately. We extend our sincere sympathy to Michael’s partner, Yvonne McClintock, and his sister, Wiggy, and her family.
Posted March 16, 2019
Noel Mullins is a lifelong foxhunter and sporting photo/journalist. Visit his website for more articles and books.
Once again, Foxhunting Life apologizes for the silly practice of obscuring the common word for a female dog. If we didn’t, we risk having our e-magazines blocked by spam filters.