AT the Ballymacad Foxhounds meet at Oldcastle, champagne corks were flying, glasses were clinking and the best kept secret was about to be revealed as a large crowd of hunt followers and supporters gathered at Gary and Jackie O’Neill’s Bar and Guesthouse in Oldcastle, a favourite base for hunting visitors from home and abroad. It is not every day that there is a triple hunt celebration, and not every day that champagne is flowing at 10am but the Ballymacad Foxhounds always had that touch of class!

The special occasion was to mark the 25th anniversary of the two joint-masters Thosh Kellett, the largest employer in Oldcastle with 180 employees working in his company Respa Beds, and Jim Stevenson, a property developer from Co Down, who have been the steady hands on the tiller making the Ballymacads such a prestigious hunt that hunting visitors always have at the top of their bucket list.