Michael Dempsey MFH, a household name in hunting circles all over the world, sadly passed away last week at age 98, in the loving care of his son Tom and his wife Mairead. He hunted the Galway Blazers for 20 seasons and was Joint Master for 40 seasons. His son Tom followed as huntsman for another 20 seasons. Michael also hunted Lady Molly Cusack-Smith’s Bermingham & North Galway Hounds and the East Galway Hounds, which possibly made him the only huntsman to hunt all of the County Galway foxhound packs.
My own association with Michael Dempsey goes back nearly 70 years from my first day hunting with the Blazers at Dartfield. It was long before he started hunting hounds, and he was surprised to see me hunting a pony bareback. He told me to call up that evening, and he found an old saddle for me in the attic of a neighbour’s thatched cottage. We cleaned it up, and I never looked back. He was very generous allowing me to hunt his smashing grey cob and to follow him when he used to ride wide of the pack. We had fantastic hunting in the era with Lancelot Smith (1952-55) Paddy Pickersgill (1956-66) and later Michael himself, who like Pickersgill, never knew when to blow for home!
His son Tom was a junior international event rider, another son Michael hunted the East Galway Hounds, while Pat was recognized as one of the most talented showjumping riders on the circuit. Michael’s brother Paddy produced a string of top showjumpers, and his other brother JJ whipped into him, while his niece Dr. Rose Dempsey was a Joint Master, and his nephew Kevin was Field Master. Michael’s hunting philosophy was very simple – to look after farmers and make sure the followers respect the country. He was not slow to handle any situation that jeopardized those principles.
Early Days
Michael was born beside Dunsandle Estate owned by Blazers’ Master and Huntsman Major Bowes Daly. He decided as a child that he would one day hunt the pack. Daly was Michael’s idea of the complete huntsman, a big man who could trot a horse down to the biggest double stone wall and make nothing of it. He had a wonderful voice and was pitch-perfect on the hunting horn. He started hunting as a 10-year-old on a pony borrowed from a neighbour, Mike Hynes, who he described as a ‘dinger’, and if a wall was too high for him then he would bank it. When he married Mary Kate, he moved to Masonbrook outside Loughrea where they raised their family with Michael playing for the Loughrea Hurling Team. At the time he was balancing working at Tynagh Mines, farming, and hunting hounds.
Taking on the Galway Blazers
Michael took on hunting of the Galway Blazers in 1978 and put his stamp on the pack breeding, particularly the Old English bloodlines. He wanted a lighter hound that could bank the Galway walls and leave them intact. His puppy shows were well attended and were always popular as a great social occasion, looked forward to by many people.
Michael was the complete huntsman, a difficult man to stay with when ‘Gone Away’ was sounded, professional in every way, clear on the hunting horn, and very quiet and consistent with his pack. As a horseman, he won members’ races, and as a huntsman he rode a couple of stone lighter which meant that horses would be fit and sound enough to last, often a couple of decades. His best horse was Superman, who he bought from the Blakes in Tynagh, hunting hounds off him and winning a point-to-point in Athenry. Another great horse was Gavroche, whom he bought from his brother Paddy. He also trained point-to-pointers.
The stories of Michael’s skill as a rider are numerous. Hunting at the back of Craughwell one day, hounds were running hard on a fox for Greenhouse. When he got to the big old-fashioned wooden level crossing railway gates, they were closed across the road as the Dublin train was coming. Dempsey disliked being separated from his hounds so, to the followers astonishment and the waiting cars, he turned his horse and jumped the unbreakable double gates foot perfect, with just two strides over the railway track in the middle to take on the second set of gates. Needless to say, nobody followed. Visiting the Meaths with a horse that had never seen a ditch before, everybody was held up by post and rails with a 5-foot hedge and a ditch at the back. Dempsey remarked he did not come so far to be held up, so he turned his horse on the road and showed a clean pair of heels to the Meath followers! At Carnmore Cross with hounds hunting hard to the Rifle Range, barbed wire was standing a few feet from a big double wall, but Dempsey sailed over it.
Michael was known for long days hunting and was reluctant to pack up early, so on another occasion when hunting the East Galways the only way to get home in the dark was to follow the sparks of Honorary Whipper-In Shirley Ringling North’s hunter’s shoes as they struck each wall!
Judging Hunters
Michael was one of the driving forces behind Loughrea Show Society, serving also as chairman for most of his life, and was in demand at shows all over the country judging hunter classes. He produced showjumpers and point-to-pointers which Sean Egan and Bill Bourns campaigned. Bill and Michael formed a great partnership in producing a succession of cobs that took their share of ribbons at The Dublin Horse Show. Bill was an integral part of the team in Craughwell judging at shows, she also turned out Michael’s hunters and later Tom’s hunters always to show standard.
Parading hounds at the Dublin Horse Show
Michael paraded the Blazers hounds at the Dublin Horse Show in 1983 and again in 1989. He was very proud of the fact that he had such an understanding with his pack and of the 22 ½ couple, every hound settled on the bank. 24 years later, his son Tom paraded the Blazer Hounds again, probably the first time a father and son paraded hounds on separate occasions at the Dublin Horse Show.
Hunting in the USA
Michael looked forward to hunting trips to the USA, starting in 1990 with fellow masters Liam Clancy, Willie Leahy and Vincent Shields. They went in March when the Blazers had finished. Liam Clancy recalled, ‘The Americans treated Michael like hunting royalty as Master and Huntsman of the famous Galway Blazers which has an international reputation, as many would have hunted with the pack over the years’. They started hunting with the Mellon family’s Rolling Rock Hounds in Pennsylvania then on to the Andrew’s Bridge, who’s black and tan hounds originated in France. Then to Virginia to the Loudoun and the Orange County, that were hunted by the legendary huntsman Melvin Poe. Poe was a great friend of Michael’s, famous for his moonshine although he did not drink himself. I met Melvin in 2008, and he said he always wondered why Michael and his fellow masters came hunting to America when Galway was so beautiful. They hunted with Mrs. Nancy Hannum, Master of Mr. Stewart’s Cheshire Hounds in Pennsylvania, which Loughrea native Ivan Dowling hunted later. They hunted with the Green Spring Valley and with Jackie Onassis in the Piedmont. Willie Leahy was using his charm inviting her to come over and hunt with Galway Blazers. During the day, the Field Master stopped the followers when Jackie had a fall, but Michael and the lads were not going to miss a good run so they pressed on and finished with the hunt staff!
Retiring as Master
As a result of falls, Michael wore a white neck brace. But one follower remarked that he looked like a hunting priest in the distance! A serious fall hunting hounds outside Loughrea in 1998 ended his career, and he handed the hunting horn to his son Tom. But a year later when Tom damaged his ribs, against doctor’s orders Michael got back in the saddle and had a cracking hunt from Cartymore. Michael continued as Joint Master, organizing hunt country, managing the kennels, and retired close to Craughwell with his son Tom and his wife Mairead. He certainly achieved his childhood ambition of one day hunting the Galway Blazers, and many followers at home and abroad will have their own special memories of following Michael Dempsey across the limestone walls. I know I have mine.
Michael will be sadly missed by family and his wide circle of friends. A Requiem Mass was held for Michael in the Loughrea Cathedral last week with music by Michael’s niece Carmel Dempsey where Tom thanked particularly his wife Mairead and Bill Bourns for their care of Michael in his retirement. He was laid to rest in Mount Pleasant Cemetery.
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