Moving off from Ballyduff to the first draw are (l-r) Philip Desmond, MFH; whipper-in Alan Curley; huntsman Donal McAuliffe; and Field Master Connie Curley. / Catherine Power photo
Philip Desmond must be one of the best-known names in Irish hunting, be it in Cork or Waterford, and why wouldn’t it be? In addition to farming, he has hunted the Cloyne Harriers, the Dungarvan Foxhounds, and the famed Avondhu in North Cork. He is now Joint-Master of the West Waterford but no longer carries the horn. That task has been passed on to Donal McAuliffe, a young dairy farmer. It would be hard to find a more enthusiastic huntsman than he, this side of Leicestershire.
The invitation from Philip was concise. “Be on the bridge at Ballyduff by eleven on Saturday if you want to see some proper hunting.”
Philip, as ever, looked dashing on a really decent homebred chestnut by Harkaway Lionhawk. The West Waterford is not the biggest hunt club but it is certainly the most sporting, running no less than three Point-to-Point’s―Tallow, Boulta, and Lismore.
The village of Ballyduff straddles one of Ireland’s most beautiful rivers, The Blackwater. One hundred five miles long, the Blackwater rises in the mountains of Kerry before draining some of the most fertile lands in Ireland through Cork and Waterford. Leaving the wilds of Kerry, the river becomes gentrified, entering Mallow then flowing through Fermoy and Lismore before entering the Atlantic Ocean at Youghal, just south of the Irish Sea. The picturesque angling village of Ballyduff is somewhere between Fermoy and Lismore, and hounds met just beside the bridge.
A decent number of boxes were already parked, ramps down waiting for the off, as the ever genial Philip, looking smart in his scarlet coat, introduced us to huntsman Donal McAuliffe and Field Master Connie Curley. The latter had captained the Waterford hurling team back in 1985 when Cork narrowly beat them in the Munster final. His son Alan is whipper-in and is a story himself. Born with the debilitating condition of cerebral palsy (CP), which leaves most of its sufferers wheelchair bound for life, young Alan has overcome his disabilities to be both an enthusiastic and competent rider, never missing a day with the West Waterford, as well as working with his dad in their schooling yard at home in Tallow. Dad Connie attributes Alan’s recovery to his first pony, Pebbles, who got the youngster going. And Alan has never looked back.
Linda Cunningham, Hon Sec, crossing the country on her handy grey. / Catherine Power photo
Hard-working Honorary Secretary Linda Cunningham on her lovely grey needed no introduction as she regularly hunts with the Scarteen as well. Missing were Joint-Masters Lorna Ward and Martina McGrath, but Martina’s husband Pat Roynane was out. The other Joint-Masters, father and son, Tim and Paul Beecher, from Loughnatousa need no introduction. Paul won the Hickstead Derby in ’95 on the homebred Loughnatousa WB. The day had a real Hickstead feel about it as hunt treasurer Ann Ledingham is a niece of Capt John Ledingham, a winner of the event multiple times on the great Kilbaha. The Beechers were in Andalusia with a team of horses jumping on the Sunshine Tour.
But coffee housing can’t last forever. On the dot of 11:30, huntsman Donal had eleven and a half couple, every one of them a picture, hacking over the bridge to their first draw just off the Fermoy road. Hounds spoke almost immediately.
Riders and foot followers were treated to some marvelous hound work as the pack ranged up and down the valley. At this stage, we were put under the able guidance of John Joyce, a local with his own pack of foot harriers, and John McCarthy with whom I have regularly hunted while visiting many of the Cork packs. John, afoot due to a horse issue, hopes to be back in the saddle before the season is over. Hounds hunted on, under the old railway bridge before marking their fox to ground on the banks of the Blackwater River.
Huntsman McCauliffe then drew land belonging to the Keneallys, a great racing and hunting family, but scent didn’t hold. The best was still to come, however. Neilus Mulcahy was out on his daughter’s grey and had a warm welcome for all at his farm at Shanbally. Sadly, his daughter Aine couldn’t be there as she has just taken up duty as a veterinary surgeon with Glaslyn Vets in Bandon. Likewise, his son Cormack was reduced to following the day on the internet as he works as a doctor in Melbourne. However, he hopes to get in a bit of hunting with the Oakland who hunt on the outskirts of that city.
Neilus runs an Aubrac herd―a French breed of domestic cattle―having just started to calve. He was keeping half an eye on the cattle shed as hounds drew Shanbally Covert, which runs to some forty acres of natural woodland. There wasn’t much of a wait before a first-season dog, Bismarck, bred by the Ballymacad but walked by Philip and Angela Desmond, had a fox afoot. He was spotted slipping away by Terry Sloan out on his Coolmore-bred hunter. Terry, when not hunting, travels the world as an advisor for Agri-King, the US-based bovine nutritionist company. While back home in Ireland, he hunts every day God gives him, knowing he could be called to duty at short notice.
(L-R) Brendan O’Connor, Terry Sloane, Connie and Alan Curley, Ed Fennell / Catherine Power photo
The Fennel family from Dungarvan was well-represented by Lar, his brother Edmund, and daughter Aoife, all giving a good display over the smashing banks in Shanbally. Nor were the husband and wife team of Brendan O’Connell and Ann Ledingham found wanting. Hounds made several loops of the plantation with some nice jumping for the field to enjoy before Reynard found an accommodating earth and was given best.
They then hacked back to what is locally known as the helicopter pad adjacent to Patrick Ahern’s farm. Patrick’s daughter Sheila has become a well-established jockey on the point-to-point circuit since her first win on the family-produced Isourbell. For all the sporting connections, the farm didn’t hold, and, blowing for home, staff and field hacked back to the boxes with the banks of the Blackwater as their guide.
Posted March 31, 2022
West Waterford
Chairman: Mr Michael Browne (1993)
Joint-Masters: Philip Desmond, Mrs Martina McGrath, Lorna Ward, Paul Beecher, Tim Beecher
Hon Sec: Linda Cunningham
Huntsman: Donal McAuliffe
Whippers-in: Alan Curley, Philip Desmond
Field Master: Connie Curley
Treasurer: Ann Ledingham
Previous Masters: Mr Michael O’Brien 1915-1920, Cpt Tom and Elsie Morgan 1953-1989
This article was first published in The Irish Field and is reprinted with permission.