Where else but in the hunting fields of Ireland could you have found such larger-than-life and totally disparate characters as Lady Molly Cusack-Smith, Elsie Morgan, American John Huston, and Thady Ryan? Sadly, those four have passed on, but others—Michael Dempsey, Willie Leahy, and Aidan O’Connell—wear big shoes as well and are very much with us still! Also included in this delightful book of personality profiles are North America’s Nancy Penn-Smith Hannum and a smattering of French and Australian characters whom you should also meet.
Photo-journalist Noel Mullins is a regular contributor to The Irish Field, and his work has also been published in Horse and Hound, Baily’s, Hunting and Country Illustrated in England, and The Chronicle of the Horse and Foxhunting Life in the U.S.
“I started hunting with the Galway Blazers with Michael Dempsey when I was eight years old in 1952 on the milkman’s pony, Teapot, but only after I helped him on his delivery rounds!” recalls Mullins.
“Commandant Dinny Lundon from Kilcolgan allowed me to ride his show jumping ponies, and I can recall nights clipping them with the non-electric hand clippers in the snug of his country pub, while the ponies’ hair was blown around the bar every time a customer opened the front door! The customers used to keep one hand over their pints, and only lift it when they were taking a mouthful! But they never complained, and conversation went on as if everything was normal,” writes Mullins in his Introduction to the book.
Well, that’s the key, you see. In Ireland, clipping a pony in a pub is perfectly normal. Where else could such characters as those who populate Mullins’s book come from? Here’s an excerpt from his profile of the late Lady Molly Cusack-Smith:
“Molly’s Hunt Balls were famous, and well sold out from year to year. Her guilt-edged personal invitations were prized possessions, with many guests delighted to have the opportunity to meet the real lady, and not a bit put out at the possibility of being abused verbally by her.”
Indeed, I well remember visits to Bermingham House that coincided with her Hunt Ball. Joan and I were careful to tightly close the door to our room. One could never know who might be occupying our bed when we came up to retire!
Thady Ryan was another thoroughly loveable character whose stories will be told until the last huntsman blows the last call. An excerpt:
“One day [Thady] recounted that hounds ran hard at the back of Scarteen crossing the railway line on the brush of their fox. Thady’s father John had the key to the railway gates. Being a devout Catholic he had his rosary beads also in his pocket which were mixed up with the railway gate keys. Extracting the bundle from his pocket and not having the time to separate them it appeared obviously incorrectly to an English visitor that he opened the gate with his rosary beads. On his return to England he informed all his friends of the mystical powers of the Master of the Scarteens John Ryan!”
The personalities chosen by Mullins for his profiles are all fascinating and accomplished sportsmen and women. Those you never knew are worthy of making your acquaintance. The stories of those you knew will reignite your memories.
Mullins has made a special Christmas offer of 38.00 USD for book and shipping to Foxhunting Life viewers. If you would like a signed copy, mail your check for $38.00 to Noel Mullins, Old Barrack House, Malheney, Skerries, Co. Dublin, Ireland. He will sign your book and mail it to you. This offer ends on January 31, 2011.