Stanislaus Lynch was an Irish author, poet, foxhunter, and breeder of Irish Draught horses and Connemara ponies.Stanislaus Lynch is one of FHL’s favourite poets and we thought readers might like to learn a bit more about him. To find poems by Lynch previously published in Foxhunting Life, type his name into the Search box in the left-hand column of the screen.
The late hunting correspondent … poet … author … broadcaster … huntsman … Irish Draught Horse and Connemara pony breeder Stanislaus Lynch (1907-1983) from Ballyjamesduff in County Cavan in Ireland was honoured recently in Cavan County Museum. The special remembrance night drew a capacity crowd of hunt followers from both mounted and foot packs, including admirers of his work from all over Ireland. Lynch’s wife Margaret was also with us.
Lynch hunted with more than one hundred packs of hounds in Ireland and Great Britain. I was one of the speakers, and talked about recently editing, updating, and publishing Lynch’s last unpublished manuscript, In Search of the Kerry Beagle, which describes the Kerry Beagle as a trail hound, a harrier, and as a foxhound. I was given the manuscript by Margaret, which had been in Lynch’s study since he passed away in 1983. Before closing, I read two of my favourite Lynch poems, “The Horse Fair” and “The Hillmen.” (The latter is reproduced in the article below.)
Retracing Lynch’s steps in originally researching In Search of the Kerry Beagle, my wife Emer and I travelled to equestrian author, artist, and first lady Master of an Irish hunting pack Edith Somerville’s home in County Cork to research her Kerry Beagle Foot Pack, and then on to meet the foot packs in County Kerry and attend the Kerry Beagle Annual Hound Show in Waterville. From there I recounted visiting the home of former barrister and politician Daniel O’Connell (The Liberator, 1775-1847) in Derrynane in Kerry who kept his own pack of Kerry Beagles. Following that, we visited the Scarteen kennels in County Limerick, which has been a mounted Kerry Beagle Pack in the Ryan family since 1691. Chris Ryan, MFH, who wrote the foreword to the book, shared a special moment by showing me a letter complete with red wax seal from O’Connell, dated 1812, about sourcing a Kerry Beagle for Ryan’s great-great-great grandfather Tha Ryan.
John Bonham from Castlepollard and a member also of the Ballymacad Foxhounds (whose son is Master and huntsman of the Lakeland Beagles) shared an amazing wartime story. His father, when he was an officer in the British Army during World War II, was mailed a present of Lynch’s book, Rhymes of an Irish Huntsman, as a birthday present by his brother. But the book had a hazardous journey from Dublin to the War Office in London and then onto a freighter which was bombarded by the German Navy. The book, which John showed to the audience that night, was found washed up on the shoreline by a German soldier, and he made sure that the book was delivered to Major Bonham who was by then in a German prisoner of war camp. By the time the war was over, his father could recite every line in the book, and could visualise the countryside described in it by Lynch. It so inspired Major Bonham, that after the war he purchased a farm in Castlepollard in County Westmeath where the family still live.
Hugh Leonard, horse producer, hunt follower for over seventy seasons, and the longest serving steward at the Dublin Horse Show, told a story about meeting Stan Lynch at Lord Dunsany’s home Dunsany Castle at the launch of one of Lynch’s books for which Dunsany had written the foreword. After the function at the castle, refreshments were transported to another venue where the party went on to the early hours of the morning! Hugh then read two poems, “The Amateur” and “Noses at the Gate.”
There was yet another special treat for the audience which was not in the original program. Lynch’s wife Margaret had recently discovered a private recording of her husband reciting his poetry, so she kindly allowed the audience to hear her late husband recite one of his favourite poems, “Cavan Patchwork.”
Lynch is the only Irish writer to be awarded two Olympic Medals for Epic Literature, the first at the London Olympics in 1948 and then at the Helsinki Olympics in 1952. / Noel Mullins photo
Lynch was known as a master of the English language, and the only Irish writer to be awarded two Olympic Medals for Epic Literature, the first at the London Olympics in 1948 and then at the Helsinki Olympics in 1952. He was the author of six outstanding books in prose and poetry on equestrianism, foxhunting, and the countryside, including Echoes of the Hunting Horn, Hounds are Running, A Hunting Man Rambles, From Foal to Tally-ho!, and Rhymes of an Irish Huntsman that were published in Ireland, Great Britain, and the USA, and illustrated by some of the most gifted equestrian artists and illustrators at the time: Tom Carr, Michael Lyne, and the American, Olive Whitmore. The books were featured in a week long shop window display in Gimbels in New York and Easons in Dublin, Ireland. His books are to be found in private collections all over the world.
The National Sporting Library in Middleburg Virgina, is one of the many libraries that have most of Lynch’s book collection. All his books are now out of print. A limited number are available from Margaret, including his last book, In Search of the Kerry Beagle, published posthumously in 2017 and available through this link. His poems have been incorporated into Anthologies, A Thousand Years of Irish Poetry, The Fox-Hunters Bedside Book, and Concord of Harps (Irish P.E.N. Anthology).
Lynch was a correspondent for The Irish Field and many other equestrian publications in Great Britain, Australia, New Zealand, and the United States of America. He was also a broadcaster, commentating on the Dublin Horse Show for many years. He was also featured on literary programmes on both the Irish National Broadcasting Channel (RTE), and the British Broadcasting Channel (BBC). He was a breeder of Irish Draught horses and Connemara Ponies and was the first person to export large consignments to America starting with a shipment of fifty-four Connemara Ponies in 1959 to Georgia in the USA. He also presented a Connemara Pony to film director Walt Disney who was filming Darby O’Gill and The Little People in Ireland.
When the Irish Tourist Board was promoting equestrian holidays abroad, Lynch was their Inspector of Riding Establishments. He owned two riding schools himself, one in his old alma mater Castleknock College in County Dublin and the other in Mosney County, Meath. He delivered papers on the Part of the Irish Farmer in Equestrian Tourism and the Use of Rural Space to a UNESCO Conference in Paris in 1966 to an audience from forty-four nations.
It is hoped that the exhibition of Lynch’s work will have a permanent place at Cavan County Museum in Ballyjamesduff for the future. Click for availability of Lynch’s books, including the latest, In Search of the Kerry Beagle.
Posted July 19, 2019