Michael Dempsey, Master and huntsman of the Galway Blazers parading 22-1/2 couple of hounds at the Dublin Horse Show, 1983 / Noel Mullins photo

Former Master and huntsman of the Galway Blazers for forty seasons, Michael Dempsey celebrated his ninety-fifth birthday last week. And there are still some who remember him hunting Lady Molly Cusack-Smith’s Bermingham and North Galway Hounds even before that!

In fact, your FHL editor was in the field near Bermingham House one hunting day that would have cancelled any prognostication of this man ever achieving ninety-five years topside.