Westmeath Foxhounds (IR) and staff: huntsman Mark Ollard (rt) and whipper-in Adam Douabbse. John Smith and Frano Derwin follow / Noel Mullins photo
The Westmeath Foxhounds, located in the Midlands of Ireland, was founded in 1854. It has had many illustrious Masters over the years such as Sam Reynell (1835-91), the Earls of Longford (1890s), Hon. Kieran Guinness (1973-76), Sir Dermot and Lady Molly Cusack Smith (1949-50), and Harry Worcester Smith (1912-13) from the USA (no relation to Sir Dermot).
Smith wanted to prove that American hounds and Thoroughbred horses could handle the Irish hunting country as well as the native horses and hounds. He was disappointed on both counts. First, the Westmeath hunt committee insisted he hunt the local pack, and second, though he was a brave and competent rider, he notched over fifty falls off his Thoroughbred horses in the course of the season!
The current chairman of the Westmeath is the Hon. Kieran Guinness, and the Masters are Dr. David Mortell, Ann Derwin, Wendy O’Leary, and Dot Love. The huntsman is Mark Ollard with whipper in Adam Douabbse. The Field Master is Andre Douabbse, the whipper-in’s brother. Honorary Secretary is Yvonne Gunning.
First, Breakfast!
The hunt breakfast was at Barbara McCormack’s Beech Tree Bar in Streamstown at 10:00 am, with hunting scheduled for 11:00 am. That was the way to prepare for hunting Westmeath Foxhounds-style, sponsored by hunt follower Kevin Manning of Sheelin Butchers in Mullingar. It was too good an offer to miss, so the pub was packed. Working the two barbeques were Brothers Andre and Adam Douabbse, with backup from fellow budding chefs John Smith, Jr, Issey Cross, and Ken Carroll. Clouds of smoke and the unmistakable aroma of sizzling bacon and sausages wafted from the pub, attracting hunters and indeed neighbours and passing motorists for miles around. Everyone was welcome. Westmeath is open for hunting business, and hirelings are available.
Westmeath has a reputation for providing creative inspiration, as Jonathan Swift, author of Gulliver’s Travels, found with the town land of Lilliput nearby, as well as JP Dunleavy, author of The Ginger Man, and Michael Harding who recently published Staring at Lakes and On Tuesdays I’m a Buddhist. Singer Michael Jackson spent the summer of 2006 with his children Prince, Michael Junior, and Paris, in Paddy and Claire Dunning’s Grouse Lodge recording studios nearby. Paddy jammed the famous Thriller piece with Jackson, and, as owner of The Wax Museum in Dublin, he had put an old wax figure of Elvis Presley in his garden. When Jackson, who had been married to Lisa Marie Presley, returned from a morning walk he told Paddy that he surprisingly met his father in law in the garden! REM, Shirley Bassey, and Snow Patrol all were recorded at Paddy’s Studio.
Hunting the Country
I always like to see flocks of sheep near a meet, as you know that where there are sheep there are foxes. I am familiar with Westmeath hunt country as I was huntsman of the Russellstown Beagles for a number of seasons when owned by Peter and Ann Downes. At the time, the couple stood the Thoroughbred stallions King Ride and Celio Rufo at their stud near Mullingar. My son Philip whipped-in, and I had great fun hunting the pack all over Westmeath. We travelled to hunt in winter snow in Loughbrickland in County Down at a dangerous time in the North of Ireland in the 1980s. We crossed the British Army-manned border a bit nervously late at night with our hound trailer after liberally imbibing in the warmest hospitality of our hunting friends. It was certainly an unusual sight for the soldiers at the checkpoint, and probably an even more unbelievable sight for MI5 the UK’s Counter Intelligence and Security Agency back in London, with the border cameras beaming images of our group and trailer back to their headquarters in Whitehall. I always felt that the reason we got through without too much difficulty was that some of those Whitehall Intelligence Officers were probably hunting people, too!
The Westmeath’s new huntsman Mark Ollard has also been inspired, and what an impression he has made. Hunting is in his DNA. His parents Martin and Claire were both Masters of the South Notts, and he hunted the Stow Beagles as a fifteen-year-old. He then whipped-in to the Cattistock, the Limerick Foxhounds, and the Scarteen, before stepping up as huntsman to the North Tipperary, the Island, followed by the Scarteen. Westmeath followers are delighted, as they have had some great hunting since Mark arrived, with cracking days in Rathconrath and Ballymore. Streamstown was to prove another busy day.
All credit to the hunt organisers, local farmer Shane Kelly, David Geoghegan, and brothers Andre and Adam Douabbse who are the real foot soldiers. They had planned fifteen draws, but the day was so busy that the huntsman only had time to hunt six.
Joint-Master Wendy O’Leary had obviously exhausted herself collecting trophies for Gigginstown House Stud with her husband Eddie and in-laws Michael and Anita at the Punchestown Races as she was gone off to relax in the sun! Joint-Master Dot Love of Charlestown Racing (who breaks the young stock for Gigginstown with assistant trainer Ciaran Murphy) was hunting Cool Hand who point-to-pointed and ran in the La Touche Cross Country Race in Punchestown. Dot enjoys following the progress of the Gigginstown young stock, and her works riders, Darragh Lambe and Aaron Murphy, were also hunting.
The Joint-Masters have put in an enormous amount of work over the years building hunt jumps and maintaining coverts. Three generations of the Derwin family were hunting: Ann, Joint-Master of the Westmeath, her son Jim, a Joint-Master of the Roscommon, and grandchildren Aine, James, and Frano. Kate was off representing Ireland in the World Cup Showjumping in Belgium, and then off on the Sunshine Tour in Spain. For Trevor Bridger of Bridge House Stud, it was not so much a case of cross-dressing but rather out of necessity that, feeling the chill, he was sporting an extra layer in the shape of Jenny Purcell’s cardigan which kept a smile on his face all day!
The first draw was in meet organiser Shane Kelly’s farm, where the followers got tuned up over some of his eventer partner Neva’s schooling fences. She is a sister of jockey JP McNamara who rode for Ferdy Murphy in the North of England, and produces eventers like Sir Charlie Brown for Michael and Trish Ryan, and showjumpers for Darragh Kenny. Event rider Emily Taylor who is Ciaran Murphy’s girlfriend is a smashing rider, perfectly balanced over the uprights on her eventer Sooty, as are David Flynn, Ciaran Sweeney, and Jill Mangan.
As soon as hounds entered Neva’s Wood they had a fox on the run. Stone walls, hunt gates, and wire came up fast as the fox circled left-handed through a flock of sheep. The followers crossed a hunt jump into McCormac’s, on to McCann’s, Padraic Maxwell’s, back to McCann’s, to Oliver Kelly’s, where the fox went to ground in a rock pile.
Wasting no time, hounds found again in Frank Ryan’s covert and over Bishopstown River, crossing walls and wire palings into Mattie Mac’s, with tidy jumping by Laura Gibson Barbazon, John Flood, Mark Finneran and Ciaran Sweeney, and over the hunt gates for Cleary’s, into McCann’s. The fox was given best while heading back over the same country.
Hounds cold-marked another fox before drawing Killian’s Quarry which provided a grandstand view for those brave enough to scale the hillocks, like Martin Smith son of John, the legendary former Westmeath Master and huntsman. He knew exactly where foxes were lying near the quarry, and this fox ran back into the quarry and over the undulating hills. The huntsman did not panic, letting hounds get on with the action once they were on the line. The black hound Anchor and the fox almost collided, but, like good athletes, they both jinked in opposite directions at the last minute and avoided the collision.
Hounds accounted for one in the thick shrubbery and immediately disturbed another who set his mask away over marsh ground into Brendan McLoughlin’s, where the followers jumped wire over a stone wall and onto Pat Slevin’s. Susan and Claire Carey cleared it in style. Another stone wall into Jimmy Rabbitt’s, then Peter Murray’s, and on through Murphy’s covert in Ballinliver where Susan Huschka was unseated and John Flood’s hunter got a knock. Hounds marked this fox to ground in Joe Murphy’s after a cracking run. Joe’s son is leading Irish international eventer Joseph Murphy, who was visiting with his wife Jill and baby Daisy. Joseph’s parents were entertaining their grandchildren Dennis and Molly. His mother Netta had a few welcome hot ports available. Horse Sport Ireland could well commission research into Joe and Netta Murphy’s genes, as they have produced not just Joseph, Ireland’s leading Olympic event rider, but point-to-point jockey and trainer Ciaran, Aaron another talented jockey, and Noel who whipped-in to the Westmeaths for many seasons.
Hounds found in the Hazel’s and hunted a circle back to the rocks in the Hazel’s. Huntsman Ollard crossed the road and found in Michael Joe Scally’s. They ran through the Hazel’s where young John Smith viewed the fox away heading for Luenstown to Frank Dillon’s into David Clarke’s and to ground near Luenstown House as light faded into dusk.
What a day’s hunting, drawing six coverts, and finding seven foxes. Days like that don’t come any better. Definitely, put huntsman Mark Ollard and the Westmeaths on your bucket list and you are in for a treat!
Posted May 11, 2018
Noel Mullins is a lifelong foxhunter and sporting photo/journalist. Visit his website for more articles and books.