DECEMBER 21st, the shortest day of the year, celebrates a new dawn in the Irish lunar calendar at the 5,200-year-old Stone Age site at Newgrange Passage Grave in Co Meath, some 500 years older than the Egyptian pyramids. As people gathered to witness this extraordinary event, I passed the site travelling to the East Galway Foxhounds meet at Kilconnell in Co Galway. It was dawn at 8.58am, and at dawn on this day once a year, a shaft of light from the rising sun accurately penetrates the small light box over the entrance door and widens along the 19-metre passage lighting up the three inner chambers as the sun gets higher. It heralds the Winter Equinox, an event that everybody should experience once in one’s lifetime.

New Dawn in East Galway

But having seen the new dawn on the East Coast, I traversed the country to be at another new dawn on the west coast as the East Galway Foxhounds have a new young huntsman, Eoghan McCabe. The meet was at Tim Broderick’s Bar in Kilconnell established in 1875 near Ballinasloe. Eoghan, who I have seen hunting since he was very young, comes with impeccable credentials having grown up hunting with the Ballymacad Foxhounds, one of the most professional packs in the country, before he went to ride work for racehorse trainer Noel Meade. He then spent four seasons with another great professional, Peter Cahill, huntsman of the three-day a week pack, the Kildare Foxhounds.

It was my first time seeing Eoghan actually hunting hounds in the most difficult conditions as scent was almost non-existent. Having hunted hounds myself, I was very aware of the challenge he was facing with a field of enthusiastic followers behind him, but he came through with flying colours. He stayed close to the pack when needed, and he helped them on foot when it called for better direction, acting as almost one of the pack.

But Eoghan has served his apprenticeship, and has learned from some of the best. Hunt chairman Dermot Duffy was full of praise for their new huntsman saying: “Eoghan is a real professional, and has developed a great relationship with farmers in such a short time”, just like former huntsman Liam McAlinden did for 15 seasons.

Eoghan says he was fortunate that Liam left him with a great pack of hounds, so he did not have to rebuild a pack. He has identified a number of ditches that the East Galway followers would not be used to so he has had fun seeing how they handle them! He was on a smashing grey hunter, owned by Kieran Sweeney, stabled at joint-master Alan Briscoe’s yard, and turned out to showing standard by Kayleigh Thompson.

Whipping-in is Paul Lynch, a good horseman, and Ann Hanniffy whose mother Ann remembered hunting the meet 50 years ago. Ann whipped-in to the Laois Foxhounds when her brother Dermot hunted the pack, and the huntsman feels fortunate to have Ann helping out as she is so knowledgeable on hounds. But she is also an exceptional polo player. She was riding a home-bred handy 15.1hh by a Connemara Pony out of a half-bred polo pony mare. The field-master is Neil Larkin and the area manager is Brendan Kenny while Johnny and Colm O’Donnell do the fencing.

Joint-master Joe Cavanagh, Niall Earls and honorary whipper-in Ann Hanniffy at the East Galway Foxhounds meet from Kilconnell \ Noel Mullins

Masters

Joint-masters Joe Cavanagh, who is also joint master of the Grallagh Harriers, and Niall Earls of Easy Fix racing fences, were hunting, but Alan Briscoe, who some suspect saw the weather forecast for Kilconnell giving rain, decided to head for the sunny climes of Spain. Olive Broderick of Kylemore Stud was also absent, but it has been a busy time for Olive, her husband Ivor and daughter Chloe as readers will have seen a recent full page advertorial in The Irish Field announcing The Stallion Shop, a new initiative offering a one-stop shop providing the services of the top stallions in Europe.

Niall Earls was on a smashing hunter, certainly showing class, by Carlo Bank out of a King of Diamonds mare that he bought from former Limerick Harriers huntsman Aongus McNamara.

Followers

Meanwhile, in the bar Thomas Rafferty was running a raffle for a three-bay hayshed for the hunt.

Ralph Conroy, owner of Milchem Equestrian Centre, who whipped-in to Charlie Bishop when hunting East Galways, is better known for his medal-winning academy in show jumping and eventing, as Ralph has an amazing record having trained more than a dozen European medallists. His recent graduate is Godfrey Gibbons who won a European Team Silver recently at Harpury UK. He was hunting with his mother Marie Dunne and his sister Katie, another rising star.

Ralph runs a winter league, combined training runs, and the young eventer league for the Western Region. His New Year’s resolution is to win more European medals!

Also ready for the chase were Christine and Paul Rabbitt, Oisin McDonagh, honorary secretary Kathleen Ward, Holly Aspin and Jason Doerflinger. Pat O’Neill, who hunted for many years with Michael Dempsey when he moved from the East Galways to the Blazers, was over to see the young huntsman in action. But Oisin Larkin will have to get a readymade hunting stock as, if Ann Hanniffy is not out one day, he will have nobody to dress him!

Hunting

The first draw was across from the Creamery which is always a sure find as foxes have their rations on their doorstep. A brace and a half were away but split, one towards Pat Joe Carthy’s with the rest working through the thick brambles. The whippers-in eventually got them on, but our pilot had the advantage and the pack had crossed Kelly’s and marked in Carthy’s.

They found again under a vivid rainbow in Carthy’s and crossed into the extensive Northbrook Farm, purchased originally by American circus owner Henry Ringling North of Ringlings and Barnum and Bailey Circuses known as The Greatest Show on Earth. It is now owned by his son John and his wife Shirley Bournes, a sister of show jumper producer Richard and her nephew Andrew.

Henry in his lifetime made a donation of his rare book collection of 1.200 volumes to the Hardiman Library in University College Galway. John and Shirley owned the Kelly Millar Circus based in Oklahoma for many years. Shirley is a former master of the Galway Blazers and whipped-in to Michael Higgens and Charlie Bishop when they hunted the East Galways. She crossed hunting country with wonderful style, and was very much the complete horsewoman. Her horses all had stylish names like Dubonnet, Calvin Klein and Gregory Peck that she started whipping-in on as three-year-olds! Meanwhile, Shirley’s cat, Sooty, beat a hasty retreat up to his penthouse suite on the stable wall as he got a fright when the fox passed so close to him.

Here we got a sample of the pack’s booming voices hunting as a pack as scent picked up on the wet grass. Our pilot sought refuge temporarily in a spinney, but the huntsman cast them on foot and they were away again but further on they hit a live electric fence in Delaney’s farm that stopped the pack.

The huntsman crossed the lane and drew the ditches, finding again in the Long Plantation, and they hunted him up to the Kilconnell to Ballinasloe Road, crossing into Northbrook forestry, where they marked him beside the road.

They had another draw left but the going was so deep that horses were tiring and it was only a matter of time before they called it a day, so the followers were content when ‘Going home’ was blown.

The East Galway are very fortunate to attract such a young talented huntsman to replace Liam McAlinden who had given such sterling service to the hunt over 15 seasons. And the new huntsman acknowledges that he has been left with such an excellent pack of hounds that took Liam years to breed.

It is certainly is an exciting new dawn for the East Galways.

History

East Galway was formerly hunted by Giles Eyre of Eyrecourt and disbanded during 1848-83, but was revived again in 1891. After being disbanded yet again in 1956, it was re-established in 1970 and has been going strong ever since.

Factfile

East Galway Foxhounds

Chairman - Dermot Duffy

Master - Olive Broderick, Joe Cavanagh, Niall Earls and Alan Briscoe

Huntsman - Eoghan McCabe

Whippers-in - Paul Lynch and Ann Hanniffy

Field-Master - Neil Larkin

Honorary Secretary - Kathleen Ward