IRELAND has lost one of its best known horsemen, Willie Leahy from Aille Cross in Loughrea Co Galway. In the nearly 70 years that I have known Willie, he never changed, true to his dedication to the traditional Irish Horse, Connemara Pony and the countryside where he was most content.
He started from modest means on a small family farm with one horse, leaving school early, but his boundless imagination and vision saw Willie develop one of the largest equestrian enterprises in Ireland, with farms in Loughrea and in Connemara.
Willie Leahy became the foremost ambassador for the traditional Irish Hunter and Connemara Pony around the world. He had a magnetism that attracted people, his trademark cowboy hat, a traditional Irish charm that was sincere, and a generosity and a warm welcome that will never be forgotten.
With his loving wife Moira, their house was always open to friends and clients from all over the world – from rock stars to royalty, heads of multinationals, clergy, politicians, prime ministers, children of presidents of foreign countries – but he never name-dropped and all were treated with the same respect and encouraged to make themselves at home. They all were treated to a cup of tea and a glass of something, although Willie did not drink, he had a heavy hand when pouring a glass of whiskey!
As his good friend Pat O’Neill said, in the words of Rudyard Kipling, ‘To have dined with Kings and still retained the common touch is the sign of a great man’.
Willie was a spiritual man and a supporter of many charitable causes, making Dartfield available for fundraising for many causes.
Willie and Moira reared a talented family – Declan, Justin, William, Dorothy and Marguerite – all great horsemen and women – all have Willie’s love of the land, as have his grandchildren. He will be sadly missed especially by his family, but also by his staff and helpers whom he treated as family.
Time for life
Willie had a weakness, he could be late on occasions, sometimes for hunts. The one exception was Sunday Mass which he never missed in Aille Church.
I remember getting a hunter from him for the East Galways when Michael Dempsey was hunting the pack. The hunt had already moved off and Willie pulled his truck up in the middle of Eyrecourt Village, late again. He let down the ramp and let a horse off, jumped into the cab with no time to hand him over as he was rushing to the Ormond so I had to run after the horse to catch him, then get mounted and catch up with the hunt.
Another time in Connemara, a German visitor looking at his watch wanting to know what time Willie was starting the trail. Willie said 10am, and at 11am Willie was still shoeing horses and the German gentleman pointed out the time. Willie said: ‘Now you came on a holiday to Connemara to relax and get away from stress, am I right, so relax, I will show you how to shoe a horse, and we will leave when we are ready’!
Willie Leahy on his world famous Connemara Trail near Cliften \ Noel Mullins
Galway Blazers
For many, Willie was the Galway Blazers. He served on the Blazers’ committee for over 50 years and was exceedingly generous to the hunt making his various farms and his children’s farms available to the hunt for lawn meets, and his farm at Dartfield available for usually two point-to-points a year. He was known all over the horse world as the field-master of the Galway Blazers, a producer of hunters and hirelings, and one of the largest breeders of Connemara Ponies in the world.
One customer in the USA was so pleased with a succession of horses that he purchased from Willie that he had a large sign in his equestrian centre that read, ‘In the market for a hunter, contact Willie Leahy, Aille Cross, Galway’.
Few probably know that Willie was also a finalist in the Ernest & Young Entrepreneur of the Year for his Connemara Trail which is world class and has been running for over 50 years. The process included a trip to Harvard University in Boston where Willie said he learned a lot, particularly mixing with the other finalists and the heads of faculties.
He concluded: “I could not do their job, and certainly they could not do mine”. His interests range from Dartfield Horse Park & Museum, the Connemara Trail, Aille Cross Winter Trail, hirelings to the Galway Blazers and adjacent packs, and Connemara Pony breeding and sales.
Willie was a modest person, and admitted that it had been a labour of love. He said horses, as we know, can make you or break you, but in his situation he added – with a wry smile – he had done alright!
Wille Leahy and visitors enjoying his Connemara Trail, now in its 52nd year, on the mountain overlooking Dogs Bay near Roundstone, Connemara in April 2020 \ Noel Mullins
Business ethos
Willie mentored his children and grandchildren on life and running a business, and had some profound sayings like, ‘When people are coming down the road, you go up the road’; ‘When people are buying you sell but when people are selling you buy’; ‘Never panic sell, everything comes back into fashion eventually’.
He did not agree with the current fashion for debit and credit cards as it made spending too easy. He believed that every purchase price was negotiable if you had a bundle of cash in your hand!
Getting started
It all started in the 1950s when Willie bought a horse for £10 that he produced and sold later at Loughrea Fair for £55. His philosophy was when he sold one horse, he bought two more. His next purchase was a chesnut Irish Draught named Dan and a grey pony named Aille Cross.
At a flapper race in Eyrecourt, the pony won both the pony and the horse races as well as the main show jumping competition. Willie sold the pony to Mick Cash for £250. He next bought a very difficult horse but got the better of him under the plough and sold him to Ned Cash for £135.
That stock has increased in 70 years to a large herd of Connemara Ponies and many horses. He liked to compete on his horses in show jumping, and he admitted that he tried many times to beat Tommy Wade and Dundrum without success, but he did beat the international showjumper Ballingarry at Portumna Show.
Willie had a short but successful career point-to-pointing winning the Blazers Members’ Race on Binhigh, bought from his brother-in-law Patsy Corcoran, against a horse specially shipped over from England by Claude Fore. Willie won at a nice touch of 25/1. Claude gave him his horse the following week and Willie won on him also. He also won the last race over the banks course in East Galway.
Hunter hirelings
Willie had a gift of matching a horse with a rider and built up a huge hunter hireling business, supplying horses to visitors from the USA and Europe to the Blazers, East Galway, the Birmingham & North Galway, the Ormond and recently, the Grallagh Harriers.
One remarkable hunter was Willie’s second purchase named Dan. He was a chesnut traditional Irish Draught horse that was a real utility horse doing all the farm work, and hunted by people all over the world. I hunted him a few times myself and he galloped with his head down but would never stop at a wall as the rider had no say once they pointed him at an obstacle.
As Willie had no horse transport in the early days of the 1950s – that’s before he bought a Volkswagen Beetle car and an old single horse trailer – all the hunters left his farm in Aille Cross in the early morning, hacked by road to meets, sometimes up to five to 20 miles away.
He had a few stalwarts like his friend Pat O’Neill and myself amongst others that would take three horses each riding the one in the middle. There were late nights hacking home but there was less traffic on the road and you would look forward to the lights of the odd car. Our reward was a hunt if one of the people hiring a horse got tired early in the afternoon, which was usually the case if people were hunting for the week as the late nights caught up with them!
The formula was simple: Christy Hynes washed and plaited the horses, Frank Burke schooled them, and Willie collected the money! As the operation grew and finances improved especially with sales, Willie, who was heading the Blazers followers three days a week as field-master, acquired a truck for transport. Willie sold horses all over the world and often followed up with hunting trips to the USA where he had many happy owners, and in some cases, he delivered the horses himself and made sure they settled in well.
Old values
Willie treasured old values and I was thinking recently about it, particularly the concept of the ‘Meiteail’, the old Gaelic word for coming together – working for each other or a collective effort – which was evident in Willie’s business model. He employed some people but had as many more volunteers who wanted to be with Willie as it was such fun and they learned all aspects of horsemanship, the history of the horse, the old farming methods and cures.
Hundreds of young people over the years spent every spare hour in Willie’s stables including many from the town of Loughrea like myself where you were encouraged to try your hand at everything, and many later went on to be jockeys, trainers, show jumpers, equine lecturers and even journalists!
Willie never saw anybody stuck for a horse or a pony, and if you had your own and had no transport, he would load your pony on his truck to a hunt or a show. This spirit of community and coming together was evident again this week where many of those young lads, now men, who spent time in Willie’s stables, volunteered to dig Willie’s grave. He would be so proud of them.
Connemara Trail
Willie was ahead of his time as he really developed the concept of the ‘Greenway’ or ‘Bridleway’ using the old railway line from Galway to Clifden, which is all the fashion now.
He got the idea to pioneer trekking in the West with his Connemara Trail when standing in his stable yard looking at all his hunters with their heads over the stable doors after the hunting season. He thought that there maybe people out there who do not hunt but would be interested in exploring the rugged and picturesque landscapes of Connemara on horseback.
Willie went into the Irish Tourist Office in Galway and asked them to keep him in mind if they got any enquiries. They were back to him quickly with 26 French visitors. Foreign languages were not a problem to Willie as his charm translated easily to any language! It started in 1969 from Barna and he kept his horses in a field belonging to my parents for a short time before he bought land in Connemara.
Today over 50 years later, the Trail runs along the old railway line, over bogs, hills and beaches much that is only accessible on horseback that the ordinary tourist never sees, and Willie would give a running commentary on the sights, the heritage, the flora and fauna. Willie brought prosperity to Connemara hoteliers as his visitors stay in the top luxury hotels, sampling the best food and Irish hospitality along the way. Such is its popularity many people book a year in advance and some visitors have been coming back for decades.
Connemara Ponies
Willie got into Connemara Ponies quite by accident and now has the largest herd in the world that go on to customers all over Europe and in North America. His most talented and successful pony stallion was Grange Finn Sparrow who sired many top show jumping, showing and eventing ponies before he was shipped to the USA for an outstanding career.
Willie kept his progeny from the time he stood in Ireland, and his stallions run with the mares in Connemara. Today if you visit Dartfield near Loughrea you will see part of the herd, with mares and foals grazing in the Horse Park.
At Dartfield Horse Park and Museum, Willie Leahy with Minister Michael Ring TD (centre) and Willie's daughter Dorothy McAlinden \ Ruth Rogers
Dartfield Horse Park & Museum
Dartfield is a 20,000 sq ft purpose-built complex on 350 acres. In the reception there is a smashing painting of Willie with his Irish Draught stallion Baladin, bred by Chantal Deon out of her great All Ireland Champion mare Brehon Lass.
Willie’s vision of heritage, history and tradition come together with a unique tribute to the Irish Horse and Connemara Pony in the walk-through exhibition, and you could always be assured of a great welcome, a cup of tea and a chat with Willie, Andrea and Joe. It is popular for tours, especially schools, as it traces the evolution of the horse and farming to the present day.
It has a rare collection of farm implements, tack, stable equipment and carriages, including the carriage of the Mountbatten family, and of soprano Jenny Lind, known as the ‘Swedish Nightingale’. She was famous in America as she performed concerts promoted by TP Barnum, the central character of the recent film The Greatest Showman. Dartfield has its own tack shop and café and horses and ponies are available for riding on the farm across a wide range of cross-country fences, and many are also for sale.
Lasting legacy
Meeting Willie’s family last week, they were understandably distraught at the loss of their irreplaceable father who shaped them into the fine family they are today. However, his many clients around the world will be delighted to know that his children have vowed to pick up the reins and build on his legacy so that it will endure. The horse and pony enterprise will continue, as will the Connemara Pony Trail, Dartfield Horse Park and Museum, and the hiring of hunters to visitors to the Galway packs.
Final farewell
The funeral Mass was said by Monsignor Geraghty, assisted by Fr Clarke, Fr Sweeney and Fr Lawless. Willie’s daughter Dorothy thanked everybody for their support and recited the poem The Old Brown Horse. Willie’s remains were escorted by mounted family outriders to Kilnadeema Cemetery while his son-in-law Liam McAlinden, huntsman of the East Galway Hounds, blew Gone Away on the hunting horn in the shadow of the coverts of Knockash and Coorheen where Willie led the followers of the Blazers for many decades.
Willie is survived by his loving wife Moira, sons Declan, Justin and William and daughters Dorothy and Marguerite, his sister Peggy, and brothers Vincent and Jimmy, his much loved grandchildren, and his extended family neighbours and friends.
Sadly, we will never see the likes of him again.
Codhiadh Samh Willie, and thank you for so many wonderful memories.
WORLDWIDE TRIBUTES
Tributes poured in from all over the world as Willie Leahy had such a lasting impression on people from every continent who hunted his horses or joined him on his Connemara Trail or visited Dartfield Museum.
‘Willie was an ambassador for Ireland, a gifted horseman, one of those people you come across once in a lifetime’, wrote one and here’s a selection of what was repeatedly posted on social media:
‘A lovely gentleman’
‘A kind and wonderful man’.
‘A legend’.
‘An amazing person, so kind to adults and children alike, who kept a supply of lollipops that he slipped quietly to children when nobody was looking’.
‘He changed my life from lessons on horsemanship, business, love and life, he gave me such amazing advice’.
‘He touched the lives of so many people’.
‘A man of men’.
‘So knowledgeable and yet humble, a true gentleman, a great horseman and a charmer’.
‘The Connemara Trail was a life-changing moment’.
‘He was really the King of Connemara’.
‘He was the most authentic, kind and sweetest man I ever met’.
‘He made my trip to Ireland truly unforgettable and I was looking forward to coming back to ride with Willie again but sadly that will not happen’.
‘A true gentleman and a great storyteller’.