THE Fingal Harriers opened their season at their usual venue The Man O War Bar & Restaurant near Skerries in north Co Dublin. It is probably the oldest roadhouse in Ireland dating back to 1595 and is situated on the old Dublin to Drogheda road where the granite mileage stones can still be seen along the road to this day. National figures such as Theobald Wolfe Tone, Robert Emmett and Daniel O’Connell dined there in the past. But today the proprietor Martin McNulty, who was field-master on the day, worked as a chef in the prestigious five-star Claridges Hotel in Mayfair, London, and cooked alongside Michelin star chefs such as Anton Mosimann and Marco Pierre White and was head chef at Waterford Castle Hotel. He specialises in quality steaks and seafood, all based on natural produce from the area. The seafood chowder is a meal in itself!

It is a popular equestrian area with a high density of both sport horses and racehorses with trainers like Ado McGuinness who was a former whipper-in of the Fingal Harriers, Karl Thornton and Dave Harvey. The Fingal hunt country, similar to other packs, has contracted in the last 25 years. Meets such as Rathbeale Cross, Beaumont Bridge, Donabate, Mullafin, Balrath Cross and Donore are no longer hunted mainly because of development.

Master Brian Beggan was on his new hunter Alfie now that Honkey is retired, and Helena Dawson was also hunting as well as former masters Pat White and Willie Harvey. Pat is the owner of Whites Agri whose store is just down the road. They are also one of the largest growers and purchasers of cereal crops in the area. Willie Harvey’s son Ben is making quite a name for himself on the point-to-point circuit recording wins recently at Castletown Geoghegan and Damma House in Kilkenny. But then his grandfather Dave Harvey has been training horses near the Naul all his life, and his uncles and aunt hunted the South County Dublin Harriers for many years. In fact Dave trained a number of horses for Pat White including Needs More Time and Henni Bay who won a hurdle race in Navan, named appropriately after a strain of barley!

Dave Bennett was giving a hand up front. He has a remarkable riding record having won the Irish Draught section of the Ledbury Hunt’s Golden Button Cross-Country Race in the Gloucestershire, and fourth overall in the Open Section. Being on dialysis makes it even more challenging as before the race on the Thursday he had his dialysis, then travelled over and hunted with the Ledbury Hounds on Friday, rode in the race on Saturday and returned home for dialysis on Sunday.

Young showjumper Alex Lyons was hunting a 17hh grey by Ringfort Cruise with his girlfriend Aoife Delaney from Co Laois who was on a Connemara thoroughbred cross by Moylaw Alabama. His sister Leslie Anne would be better known for competing her two-star eventer Rupert Bear, a thoroughbred Connemara cross for the last 15 seasons. He is now 22 years of age and going as strong as ever. Also hunting were hunt chairman Orla Gannon, honorary secretary Mary Beggan, Roisin Hughes, former master of the Kilkenny Foxhounds Graham Quinn, Katherine and Una Mullarkey, Susan Oakes, Swifty O’Hara, Seamus McGrath and his children Patrick and Conor, Caoimhe O’Brien, Carol O’Grady and her daughters Melissa and Catherine.

Visiting from the Taunton Vale was Georgina Preston who has just finished university and was riding out of David Geraghty’s yard which specialises in producing hunters and eventers. A number of his graduates are doing well for Harry Meade in Britain and in Sweden. Also visiting was Laura Hoover Lamb from the Tri Country Hounds in Georgia in the USA who was in for an interesting day over ditches, not typical of American hunting country, but she survived to tell the tale! Also out was Martin McNamara, originally from Athenry in Co Galway, but now making quite a name for himself as an international endurance rider for Team Horseware, owned by Tom MacGuinness. Both Martin and Tom have had a string of successes around the world this year, particularly in Bulgaria where Tom came first and Martin third as well as at the British Championship where Tom won the three-star and Martin won the two-star. In the Portuguese National Championships, Martin won the two-star while Tom was third. Tom has already qualified for the World Championships in Pisa next year while Martin will compete in a number of qualifiers in the meantime, and he looks forward to representing Ireland at the most prestigious event of the year.

Blind ditches

The Man O’War is known for its decent ditches, on par with any hunt country in Ireland. The first draw was in Bernice and John Moore’s. Bernice’s father Johnny was a stalwart of the Man O’War GAA club and she has trained numerous ladies teams with some players gone on to represent Dublin and be successful in All Irelands. From there, they jumped into Dom Farrell’s as the huntsman Chris Smith and whippers-in Joey Moore and Stephen Comerford made little of imposing blind ditches. But after that the ladies were very much to the fore particularly Anna McArdle, Roisin Hughes, Mary Beggan, Catherine and Una Mullarley, Marie Byrne, Sarah McNally, and Caoimhe O’Brien, a daughter of well-known horseman Charlie O’Brien. The men were no slouches either with field-master Martin McNulty on former master Kevin McGuinness’ grey hunter giving a good lead as well as Dave Bennett, Graham Quinn, Seamus McGrath and Swifty O’Hara. This farm was formerly owned by a former Fingal follower, Bart O’Connor, father of Barry, Malahide successful producer and agent for showjumpers.

Farm after farm

Hounds crossed the road opposite the pub into Kiely’s and then into Paul Rice’s farm, whose sister Marie Byrne was hunting. This took them into Andrew Cassin’s stubble whose sister, Anne, is anchor on RTÉ’s Nationwide programme and whose father, Barry, was a well-known actor on the Dublin stage, and also in much demand as an adjudicator. They moved on into Alan Harford’s near Kearney’s Tree which is beside Milverton Hall where the Wentges family used to live, and where the late Tommy Brennan built the popular Ward Union Hunter Trials Course. From there they jumped on through Everard’s and Martin Clinton’s to the final draw in Murtaghs which is bordered by the Skerries to Dublin railway track. Three of the family were hunting, Carol and her daughters Melissa and Catherine.

The Man O’War has a healthy hare population as the coursing clubs do a great job dosing the hares before they release them. However, it was a quiet day for hounds, but for those that hunt to ride, they were not disappointed as there was plenty of ditch jumping.

Field-master Martin McNulty treated the followers to refreshments at his Man O’War Bar & Restaurant which ran late into the night for many, particularly the locals.