Huntsman Raymond O’Halloran and the hard hunting Kerry Beagles of Scarteen / Catherine Power photo
The earliest records of the Scarteen and the Ryan family goes back to 1640, coming after the flight of the Earls in 1607, another incident in the long history of Irish-British conflict. Around 1820, Daniel O’Connell (the Liberator) disbanded his pack of Kerry Beagles, and his hounds were sent to Scarteen to augment the Scarteen pack. The Ryans of Scarteen were closely related to the O’Connell’s of Caherdaniel. Chris Ryan, now in his thirty-fourth season as Master, is the eight generation of his family to have carried the horn at Scarteen.
The morning of February 11, 2020 at Emly, County Limerick, started with squalls of rain, sleet, and even some snow, but riders were undeterred and a large field gathered just outside the famed and historic village of Emly, where the pent-up excitement was palpable. It may have been the thought of jumping the Emly banks and their attendant trenches, any one of which could swallow up both horse and rider leaving little more than a ripple.
Youngest rider out was 9-year-old Jonty Purcell with his Mum, Mel. / Catherine Power photo
Alternately it may have been the almost limitless country available and the old turf for galloping that caused an air of barely suppressed excitement as hounds were enlarged and riders mounted. The fall of hail stones of golf ball proportions which coincided did little to dim the enthusiasm. A great team had worked the previous week, opening wire and most importantly seeing farmers and landowners in preparation for the day. Emly is no place for a half-schooled horse or a tentative rider.
International show jumping rider Shane Breen bursts through the hedges. / Catherine Power photo
There was a full house with several hopefuls being balloted out on the half-hearted promise that they might be considered next time. (Scarteen tries to limit the size of the field to a maximum of fifty.) It was a stellar lineup with all-conquering show jumper Shane recently returned from Dubai to his ancestral Breen lands. Shane was brought up in Cashel where his father John was the local bank manager. The Breen’s come from Lattin and Emly and indeed much of the land crossed this day were Breen farms. They say the apple falls near the tree, and John at seventy-five still crosses the country with the abandon of a teenager. Not on this day, however, as he had sportingly surrendered his horse to visitors. Shane was joined in the adventure by Mary Kehoe, Master and huntsman of the Wexford, and her partner Michael Condon.
Also making up the group were showjumper Cas Cassidy and David Murphy from Westford with two girls from the Mid-Surrey farmers drag. Shane has a strong family connection with the Mid-Surrey as his late father-in-law Douglas Bunn was a founding Master.
The glitterati didn’t end there. Up front was Olympic three-day event rider Michael Ryan. And if all that celebrity wasn’t enough, Scarteen Field Master was race course inspector and stipendiary steward, former grand national jockey Val O’Connell.
Huntsman O’Halloran off a monster bank / Catherine Power photo
The first draw was just up the Tipperary road in The Merchants bog, and with more than half the field still on the road, hounds opened and a fine dog fox, in no humour to linger, was viewed by senior Master Chris Ryan from his vantage point. Chris, sadly, has been on foot this season, but brings his knowledge and enthusiasm to bear on hunting days.
Visiting from Kildare on a smashing grey by Killinick Bouncer was Hazel Valentine, stud groom in Edward Loder’s Eyrefield Stud. Sadly, Tom had no opportunity to showcase his tack as almost immediately they flew through Patrique Ryan’s and Martin McGrath’s. Martin is an Irish Army Commandant based in the Curragh. With all the dash of a cavalry officer and well mounted he showed them through before they crossed into Farran where the Purcell’s took over the role of path finder. There were no less than five Purcell’s out hunting this day. Their late father, Phil, would have been more than proud of the family turn-out.
Hounds raced on through Crocker’s and Tadgh O’Meara’s before swinging right-handed over some monumental banks and marking their fox in a riverside shore in Farran. As one might expect, the field was scattered all over the place with several still left in County Limerick.
Whipper-in Frisk Jones leaps to the bank. / Catherine Power photo
Hounds were collected, stragglers caught up, and huntsman O’Halloran drew on across the Lattin road and found in Sean Dunne’s farm near the Wash Boreen. Hounds then drew on through John Breen’s extensive farm with young John on his good bay to show them through. A really serious bank was met into McManus’s farm at Ballinacree. JP McManus with over 500 horses in training is probably the most prolific owner ever in the annals of National Hunt racing.
As always, arrangement’s are facilitated by JP’s farm manager and Scarteen Point-to-Point chairman Tom Russel, whose son young Dave was out and going well. This bank always takes a bit of jumping and over the years has claimed more than its fair share of victims. Among the juniors who gave a sterling performances was young Lisa Curtin on her cracking bay cob.
As hounds worked their way toward drawing the famed covert in Ballinacree, they met a travelling fox who made a hurried change of direction and took hounds towards Purcell’s covert, but not without misadventure. With hounds flying, our huntsman took a chance at a blind single bank and galloped at it with a view to clearing it. He hadn’t reckoned with a soft take-off, however, and took a perler, landing at the far side while his horse remained at the take off. A more measured approach on the second attempt saw both through. They crossed back over the Mahore but our pilot knew where he was going and just short of O’Meara’s farm yard found a welcoming shore.
There was a brief interlude, perhaps the only one all day, and many decided they had had enough. Indeed several horses and jockeys looked as if a trip to their horse box was high on the agenda. Our photographer had to be fast to get a few group photos, the only opportunity of the day.
Star of the day was 12-year-old Lisa Curtin taking on the biggest banks with Scarteen. / Catherine Power photo
It soon became obvious that going home was very far from huntsman O’Halloran’s mind. He collected hounds and with less than half the field made the short hack to Duncummin and John Burke’s lane, where, at a disused farmyard hounds took an interest. But it was Nifty, a Stradbally winner last year, who pushed a fox afoot and moving. Nifty is by Mulinavat Nigel out of a Scarteen bi*ch and is the outstanding hound of the pack. Our pilot was spotted slipping away by former East Clare huntsman Shane Jones, now with strong Scarteen connections as a brother of whipper-in Frisk.
Those remaining were treated to a smashing dash reckoned by many to be the best of the day. As hounds ran for Conor Condon’s they were faced with a particularly challenging bank. It was high and narrow on top with a major tributary of the Mahore to the rear. Here Shane Breen was called on to be path finder and as you might expect he had a copybook clear round. Hunt staff followed and our Field Master Val O’Connell on his fourth season grey also had a clear round as did Kildare visitors, saddle maker Tom Berney and Hazel Valentine. Tom later reflected that it was a close run thing, and that if he didn’t meet that fence again for another ten years it would be still too soon!
With hounds still flying and those with a clear round not looking back, Tipperary visitor Caroline Ryan an agricultural advisor on her home bred bay by Benlow Cross, certainly got a crash course in the study of soil types as her horse missed take off and the intrepid pair landed in the stream where he proceeded to walk on her as the cooling waters of the Lesser Mahore flowed over.
Somewhat recovered, she stoutly defended her horse by saying that when he trod on her underwater he barely tip-toed! Luckily Willie Crowe, always a good man in an emergency, came to her aid and on dry land managed to re-load her and get her back to the road. As she described it later, “For several days my brain was just not talking to my body.”
Happily she has made a good recovery which is more than can be said for her hunt coat! Having crossed the Knockane road with Nifty leading the pack by at least two fields, hounds hunted on towards Kilcoran boreen where they marked their fox to ground.
With dusk falling it was a tired but happy bunch that loaded up after a smashing day. It was not an occasion for hospitality and lingering, but rather to take tired horses straight home for a hot mash and a well deserved rest. They are the real heroes!
The Scarteen
Kennels: Scarteen, Knocklong, Co. Limerick
Chairman: Mr. Charlie Moore
Joint-Masters: Christopher Ryan, Kate Jarvey, Daniel Crane, Roger Dungworth
Field Master: Val O’Connell
Hon Secretary: Triona Fitzpatrick
Huntsman: Raymond O’Halloran
Whipper-in: Frisk Jones
Posted February 25, 2020
This article previously appeared in The Irish Field and is republished with permission.