Factfile

Duhallow Foxhounds

Chairman - Pat Fleming

Joint-Masters - Kate Jarvey, Matt Nagle, Peter O’Meara, Pat Hayes, Liz Ahern

Joint-secretaries - Col. Pat Coleman and David O’Meara

Huntsman - Jamie Byrne

Whipper-in - Joe Coyle

Country hunted: North Cork, 30 miles north to south and 50 miles east to west (from the Atlantic to Fermoy)

History

The hunt dates from 1745 and founded by the Becher family, has hunted continuously to this date. Along with its neighbouring Muskerry, it is the oldest hunt in Ireland.

Meets: Mon., Wed. & Sat., 11am.

WHILE many hunts have shied away from having children’s meets this season, Duhallow had a most successful day for their young sportsmen recently at Monymusk, the home of their senior joint-master, Mrs Kate Jarvey. They rightly felt that the future of any club is its young members and they have to be nurtured and brought on. There are probably more young riders hunting with the Duhallow than any other pack we have visited post-Covid.

So it would have been very hard to turn down an invitation to visit the famed Monymusk Stud, just on the outskirts of the small north Cork town of Kanturk.

The stud is steeped in sporting history. Under its previous ownership of Trevor Hemmings, it produced no less than three Grand National winners since the millennium: Hedge Hunter (7/1, 2005), Ballabrigs (14/1, 2011) and Many Clouds (25/1, 2015), surely a record never to be broken. Sadly Trevor Hemmings is no longer with us, but the baton has been passed to a worthy successor.

Now the property of Mrs Kate Jarvey, it has been lovingly restored to its former glory. The emphasis now is on producing top-class event horses for the elite world of five-star eventing and hunters with a no less challenging criterion than being capable of carrying the Duhallow huntsman and whipper-in in style across their challenging country.

Kate has bred Tokyo Olympic Games eventers: Colorado Blue with Austin O’Connor (IRL) and Balham Mist with Ludwig Svennerstal (SWE). To add to this breeding feat, both these horses are out of the Rock King mare Rock Me Baby - an incredible achievement.

Relaxed outing

Hospitality for the young sportsmen was provided in one of the barns with two stabled hunt horses looking on. Dispensing hospitality suitable for young jockeys were Clare Naughton and Caroline Kiely, whose better half Roger was acting as field-master for the day.

The aim of the day was to let good young riders (and there are plenty in Duhallow) to get up close and see hounds work in a more relaxed fashion than would be possible on a regular hunting day.

Joint-masters Liz Ahearn, Patrick Coleman, Mary Howard and Mattie Jones had volunteered to act as chaperones but it was hardly required with children of the calibre of the Kiely brothers, Peter and David, whose hunting experience belies their age. Mary, with whom I hunted for many years, is originally from Kilsheelan and was out with her two children, Kiera and Will, who are following in the O’Donnell family tradition. Young Charlie Sheehan was having his first day out and getting on fine when we saw him.

Huntsman Jamie Byrne and his equally enthusiastic whipper-in Joe Coyle were, as usual, champing at the bit to enlarge their 12 and a half couple of Old English, any one of them capable of earning a rosette at Stradbally. The two lads looked very smart on two quality greys, Jamie on Kate Jarvey’s mount and Joe on Mary Stedesforth’s foot-perfect hunter. Mick Healy, who farms near Ballyclough, made up the trio as an amateur whipper-in though as professional as any in the hunting world. His young nephew Edward was having his first day and had a clear round.

Peter Kiely, Aaron Palmer, Patrick Coleman, Diarmuid Fleming and Roger Kiely and the young riders on the way to the first draw of the Duhallow Young Sportsmen's meet at Monymusk \ Catherine Power

Exciting project

With almost 50 mounted, it was like something out of Snaffles as hounds and the field hacked down the Monymusk avenue to cross the road to what had been Mick Winter’s training yard. It has now been subsumed into Monymusk but soon will take on a new role as a dedicated facility for equine therapy for adults and children with autism and intellectual disability. Funding is in place and the builders are ready to roll once planning is granted and it will be run as a satellite farm of Liskennet who run a similar establishment in west Limerick. Not ones to hang about, they expect to be laying blocks by the first of May with an initial budget of €2.7 million.

Field-Master Roger Kiely of the Duhallow Foxhounds, holding back a very enthusiastic field of young riders at their Young Sportsmen's meet at Monymusk \ Catherine Power

Hunting action

Hounds crossed the road for their first draw in the deep valley opposite Monymusk and having resisted the temptation to hunt a brace of deer, hounds found a fox after crossing the river. They ran into Brendan Murphy’s extensive farm where a warm welcome for the Duhallow is always assured. Brendan, who recently featured in The Irish Field’s Heart of Racing column, has enjoyed considerable success with the home-trained Annie Fior. In the family tradition, his young sister Milena sat up and had a great day.

The Palmer brothers, Alan and Aaron, were seen to be going well as were the Goold children from Dromina - Jack, Christopher and Hannah - all in their first season but going like veterans. Their mother Elaine is secretary of the horse section of Charleville show. Hounds hunted back through a new facility for wheelchair-bound people to enjoy the countryside during the summer, another new innovation in Monymusk.

But all too soon, Reynard found a welcoming shore and safely found refuge.

Hounds then crossed back over the road to draw Monymusk proper and jump the numerous banks and drains therein. Young Diarmuid Fleming, from a family steeped in the Duhallow, is now an old hand and was assisting some of the younger jockeys. Another traditional Duhallow family are the Cogans and young Diarmuid was out on his new cob. His dad Dermot, from Glantane, hunted with Duhallow for many years. Their cousin, young Edmond Cogan, was having his first day with the Duhallow and got on well.

As we joined Mrs Jarvey at one of her really decent trenches, we saw Luke Burke-Ott on his young pony, accompanied by his sister Ella.

Hounds soon found and hunted over some really decent country before swinging left-handed back into Jarvey’s over a really decent Duhallow double.

However all good things come to an end and as hounds checked, Jamie wisely decided to blow for home. The day finished successfully with hot chocolate and other good things for the young jockeys.