What follows is a report on a fine day’s hunting, a description of a brilliantly executed new kennel complex that any hunt contemplating new kennel construction will appreciate, and an opportunity to become Joint-Master of an Irish pack for any foxhunter yearning for more adventure!

(l-r) East Galway Foxhounds Joint-Master Joe Cavanagh and huntsman Liam McAlinden with hounds at the New Kennels / Noel Mullins photo

The history of the East Galway Foxhounds goes back to Giles Eyre of Eyrecourt who kept a pack of hounds from about 1790. The East Galway Foxhounds was founded in 1880.

In addition to those milestones, the year 2014 will go down as a proud year for the East Galway followers. A brand new state of the art kennel complex was developed and financed by Joint-Master Joe Cavanagh and handed over to the hunt recently. Cavanagh, a successful businessman and a former owner of Cavanagh Foundry in Birr, is passionate about hunting. A former Master of the Ormond Hunt for twenty seasons, he joined the mastership of the East Galways eight seasons ago. Joe bred the international eventer Comanchee who with his rider James Robinson was third at Burghley and fourth at Badminton, the latter which he competed in ten times, and the last time at nineteen years of age!

The project of building the new kennels has taken Cavanagh three years from purchasing the site, visiting kennels in the UK and Ireland for ideas of what mistakes to avoid, securing planning permission, and then building. Meticulous about detail, his top priorities were the welfare of hounds and horses and comfortable surroundings for the huntsman to do his work.