AS I arrived at the North Galway Foxhounds’ meet at Kilbeg Pier on the shores of Lough Corrib, I recalled a story former Blazers and Bermingham & North Galway master and huntsman Michael Dempsey told me about Henry Gordon, a former huntsman in North Galway. Paddy Griffin in Loughrea had a very good show jumper and Harvey Smith was coming to look at him.

It was suggested that Henry Gordon give the horse ‘a light school’. Michael was driving to Tuam for a show meeting and suddenly Henry Gordon jumped a wall onto the road in front of his car and went over the wall on the other side and off across country. So much for light schooling!

The horse, known as Mattie Brown, was purchased by Harvey and went on to win the Hickstead Derby twice and was on the British team that won the Aga Khan Nations Cup in Dublin in 1970, also winning the Grand Prix. Henry Gordon’s light schooling worked!

Nursery for young show jumpers

Jackie Lee is in his 39th season leading the field on his smashing grey Simpson (by All the Diamonds). This year he has youngstock by Zirocco Blue, Accord 3, Dallas, Diarado, and Rooney. His good 1.40m mare Kashino, ridden by Jessica Burke, is in foal. The young riders get their early jumping education following this fine horseman.

Raphael Lee is a riding officer in the Army Equitation School, Michael Morrin is riding for William Funnell and Oisin Dillon is riding for Billy Twomey.

In addition Ben Keane, Oisin Dillon, Tadhg Dillon and Tara Mellotte were all in line for Connaught Showjumping National Awards and FEI Young Nations Cup Awards. Holly Maher won on the Spring Tour and took the Puissance in Clifden which is not surprising as she is used to jumping similar size walls that don’t fall!

The meet

Murphy’s Bar is closed temporarily. The late Tom Murphy was a great hunt supporter, as is his son Tom Jr, and his daughter Robyn rides ponies. Hospitality was not impacted as hunt chairman Benny Lee was granting every request for refreshments like rabbits out of a hat. Some of the German visitors looked in shock, some losing their voices with the high octane drinks but, as a result, they crossed country much better!

Joint-masters Pat Mellett and Tom McNamara were hunting, while Michael Lennon and William Donnellan, who lives in Vancouver and who Susan Finnerty featured recently in The Irish Field, were away. Young James Rochford, a stylish rider, helps with whipping-in duties.

Huntsman David Masterson whipped-in with the Ormond, North Tipperary and the United. He and his partner Paula Cosgrove own Skehana Livery Stables in Eyrecourt, and their daughter Pryia has a string of wins show jumping around the country, also winning the Connaught Pony League U10s on her pony Zeus last year. David gets most of his horses from Mylie Cash. His great cob, Eamonn, is 15.1hh but thinks he is Boomerang, always foot-perfect, as if on springs. At a recent meet, he jumped a wall standing 6 ft 6’’ with a couple of feet drop the far side!

Mounted

Jackie Lee informed me that this was big country as many walls were built with excavators as the stones are so heavy, so they would have a small field. But then the trucks and horseboxes just streamed in. First to arrive were hunt chairman Ger O’Brien, Benny Lee, Colie Delap, Pierce Gibbons, Ray Lee, and the Fingal Harriers group of Darren ‘Swifty’ Jordan, Sive Ryan, Brian and Neil Moore, Dave Bennett, and Dublin funeral director Garrett O’Dwyer, known for Friesian horse-drawn hearses but fortunately there was no demand for Garrett’s service on the day!

Also Kilkenny veterinarian and prolific horse producer, Diarmuid Ryan, who has produced a string of Dublin Horse Show winners in showing and the young eventer classes and is a top handler of three-year-old loose jumpers at Goresbridge, Cavan and Monart Sales. He was hunting a warmblood while Ciara Dennigan was riding a smashing Connemara pony that he thinks will win the Connemara Working Hunter class at Dublin and, the way he jumped all day, I well believe it!

Others out were Carl Finn, Eddie Burke, Karl and Finn Reynolds, Sarah Reddington, Roisin Moran, Susanne Murphy, John Glynn, Victoria and Alan McNulty, Rose Carr, Des Joyce, Martin Connelly, Richie Regan and his daughter Sarah and Tadhg Dillon.

Tom and Maria McNamara of Horses in Ireland were looking after their German visitors, Henrie and Heinz Schumacher, Rebecca Heymann and Wilfred Ruhe, from the Rheinlandmeute Hunt in Cologne. Following also was former hunt treasurer Noeleen Potter, and Alma Maher from Loughrea whose daughter Holly was out, but Jessica and Rose could not make it. Niall Fortune had his two-year-old son Iarlaith out on his pony, also out were Pippa Clesham, Pat Dillon, Frank Moore, who hunts with the Fingals, and Alan McNulty who was hunting a five-year-old (by Cougar), owned by Aishling Tonery.

My guide was photographer Maura Morrin whose work regularly appears in The Irish Field, together with Damian Carr, his wife Marie, daughter Jessica and their son Jason was celebrating his 13th birthday.

Hunting

The area managers Benny and Jackie Lee had prepared a lot of country for the day. Huntsman David Masterson had a mixed pack of 12 ½ couple of smashing hounds with some top drafts from the Meath Foxhounds. He is assisted by kennelman Joe McEvoy who does a great job. Whipping-in was Pat Mellett MFH with young James Rochford.

The fog was clearing and scent was waist high, but the huntsman and hounds were patient and went about their work at the first draw, along the lake shore in Craven’s, but it was flooded. The extensive woods at Cargin Castle produced a few whimpers but the pack could make nothing of it.

They jumped a few stiff doubles to get to dairy farmer John Sweeney’s whose farm is a latticework of well-built walls with stones so large that they are not for the faint-hearted. John is a master wall builder and has even built stone walls around the trees on the land. There was no possibility of a horse knocking a stone! He was showing hounds to two of his 20 grandchildren, Tommy and Avine. His most recent grandchild Eoin arrived the day before.

Hounds were busy before they jumped from Mary McDonagh’s onto a narrow lane where hounds were moving on but the concentration was on a big double wall with a steep drop where the followers got a great lead by Jackie Lee but many were not ready. Young James Rochford, riding up front with the hounds, showed what a stylish rider he is but Darren ‘Swifty’ Jordan and Tom McNamara’s horse The Business were nearly in the clouds. A big shout of ‘Sit well back’ unnerved a few who had not jumped it yet.

Hounds found again in a patch of hazel in Frank McDonagh’s Grove and worked up the line for a nice crisp run, eventually cold marking.

Ready customer

They jumped all the hedges up to Murray’s and found a customer straight away with the pack jumping into the covert like a swarm of bees. They hunted around the cover a couple of times and then he broke cross country through Bob Newel’s to Vinnie Murphy’s and over the road heading for Headford. In Luggawanna, it was wall after wall, many topped by briars, some fortunately had gaps with hounds in brilliant voice, then on for Clydagh and they marked on the side of a turlough.

To get to the last draw, they had to jump a steep drop off the road into Tom and Jarlath Walsh’s and hounds were on song again running through Ballinacregga Hazel Wood, eventually coming to a check.

However, they could not recover the line so the huntsman blew for home as dusk was setting in after a perfect day’s hunting.

Benny Lee was dispensing refreshments back at his lorry on a glorious evening on Kilbeg Pier, fortifying the many visitors before they set off on the long journey home.

History

The Bermingham & North Galway hunt was founded by Sir Dermot and Lady Molly Cusack-Smith in 1946 and, when disbanded, the name changed to the North Galway Hunt in 1985.

Factfile

North Galway Hunt

Chairman - Ger O’Brien

Masters - Tom McNamara, Pat Mellett, William Donnellan and Michael Lennon

Huntsman - David Masterson

Whipper-in - Pat Mellett MFH, Gabriel Slattery

Field-Master - Jackie Lee

Kennelman - Joe McEvoy

Honorary Secretary - Aoileann Nic Iomaire