duhallow foxhounds
Pat Coyle: Forty-Two Seasons, Huntsman, Ward Union Staghounds
Pat Coyle, huntsman, Ward Union Staghounds (IR) / Catherine Power photo
Pat Coyle, born and reared in Two Mile House, Co Kildare, has been huntsman of the Ward Union Staghounds since 1980. It was as natural for young Pat to follow a hunting career as it was for a bank manager’s son to join the bank. Pat’s maternal uncle, Eamonn Dunphy, was the much-revered huntsman of the Ward Union, but age and falls had taken their toll. By the late 1970s, he was nearing the end of his tether. So when the job of yardman in the kennels fell vacant, seventeen-year-old Pat Coyle applied and was hired. By that point, he was no longer red raw.
The Huntsman’s Horse
Chris Ryan staying with his Scarteen Black and Tans / Catherine Power photo
It is generally recognised that only a very special horse will suffice for a huntsman of a premier pack. Many of these horses acquire fame in their own right and often become even better known than their riders. No horse should ever be considered too good or too valuable for a huntsman on a big day. Capt Harry Freeman-Jackson regularly hunted the Duhallow hounds off St. Finbarr, which he rode when representing Ireland in the Rome Olympics. Many of the greats are a one-of and often unridable unless they are up front.
Duhallow Foxhounds at Monymusk Stud
Author and friend / Catherine Power photoWith the season winding down, we decided to keep the best wine ’til last...or very nearly so. Monday saw us with the “Dashing” Duhallow at their meet at Monymusk Stud in Kanturk. The Duhallow is the oldest hunting establishment in Ireland with foxhounds, and has hunted the country continuously since 1745. The market town of Kanturk is looked on as the capital of the ancient barony of Duhallow, so it seemed a suitable venue on which to end their season.
Monymusk, now the property of Duhallow Senior Master Kate Jarvey, was bound to be a gala occasion, and so it proved. Kate holds the unique distinction of being Master of two of Ireland’s leading packs simultaneously—the Duhallow and neighbouring Scarteen. Her great-grandfather was Ely Lily of pharmaceutical fame, and she was brought up during Cape Cod summers near the Kennedy family. Kate is also a former chairman of the Irish Masters of Foxhounds Association. Sadly she was not riding as she is recovering from a broken hip, the result of an unfortunate schooling fall just after Christmas.
Hunting In the Footsteps of Irish History
Thirteenth century Liscarroll Castle in the Duhallow hunting country, near the site of the Battle of Liscarroll in 1642.
There are certain days that stand out in the sporting calendar, Gold Cup day in Cheltenham, Aga Khan day at the Royal Dublin Show, the Maryland Hunt Cup in the USA, Munster final in Thurles (especially if Cork and Tipperary are playing), but ranking at least equal to any of these must be a meet of the Duhallow in Liscarroll. The Duhallow kennels are nearby, and huntsman Ger Withers is a native of the parish so it could be described as their spiritual home. As if all this weren’t enough, longstanding hunt chairman Pat Fleming farms nearby, and the Flemings have been farming in Liscarroll since the Battle of Liscarroll around 1642.
Memoirs of a Foxhunting Photographer
Book Review by Norman Fine
Memoirs of a Foxhunting Photographer by Catherine Power, hardbound, large format (8-1/2 x 11 inches), color, 202 pages, 55.00 euros shipped outside Ireland, order direct from the photographer or on the website.Inside this colorful book, Memoirs of a Foxhunting Photographer, is a collection of the best of Catherine Power’s foxhunting photographs. Accompanying the images are historical and descriptive pieces written by her husband and fellow hunting correspondent, Dickie Power. This large format volume showcases the mad-keen Irish hunting people, the hounds, the Irish hunters, the fox, and the glorious Irish landscape that makes foxhunting in Ireland so adventurous.
Having hung up her boots after forty-seven seasons hunting with the Scarteen, County Limerick, and the “Gallant” Tipps, Catherine Power decided to follow her other passion for photography. Many of the photos have been previously published The Irish Field, Foxhunting Life, Horse and Hound, The Field, Hounds Magazine, and other sporting journals. Her work takes center stage in The Irish Field where she is hunting correspondent, a role she shares with Dickie. The pair makes a complete package for any sporting publisher: exciting images and compelling text.
Duhallow Foxhounds at Kilbrin: The Oldest Foxhound Pack in Ireland
Duahallow huntsman Ger Withers / Catherine Power photoFounded by the Wrixon-Becher family, the Duhallow foxhounds have been hunting North Cork from the Kerry border to Doneraile continuously since 1745 making it the oldest foxhound pack in Ireland. (For those who question how to reconcile that with the Scarteen, the recorded history of which goes back to the early 1700s, the keyword is “foxhounds.” The Scarteen Black and Tans are technically known as Kerry Beagles, though they dwarf any beagles we know today.)
The Duhallow pack existed before 1745, but there is no recorded history. That year, Henry Wrixon of Ballygiblin rented a fox covert, Regan’s Break, for thirteen guineas. Henry passed the pack on to his son, Colonel William Wrixon, who in turn passed it on to his own son. In 1800, Sir William Wrixon Becher, MFH met with several other gentlemen to form a club to be called the Duhallow Hunt Club. Sir William had taken on his wife’s maiden name, Becher, she from the same family for which the infamous obstacle on the Grand National Steeplechase course at Aintree, England, Becher’s Brook, is named.
