Name: Tommy Dowd.

Name of Pack: The Avondhu Foxhounds.

Kennels based at: Glanworth, Co Cork.

What type of hounds and how many? We have mainly Old English and a few Harriers for voice. As a one day a week pack, we keep 12 and a half couple of hunting hounds in the kennels and have four couple of pups so far to enter next season.

Where did your interest in hunting stem from? As a youngster I spent time with Martin Hurley who is a local point-to-point trainer. He is also the whipper-in for The Conna Harriers who would have been the first pack I ever hunted with. I was fascinated by hounds working together from an early age and the thrill of a good hunt on horseback.

Where did you gain your huntsman’s knowledge)? I naturally always found myself watching the interaction between the huntsman and hounds no what matter what pack I was hunting with. Every day is a school day and I always draw on experience from people that I have hunted with in the past like Finbarr Murray, Tony Fitzpatrick and Jerry Twomey.

I work with very shrewd and experienced individuals currently such as Kieran Quish and Paudie Walsh who are great hounds’ men and make every aspect of my role that bit easier.

Biggest influence to date? Noelie Lambe who hunted regularly with me until recently was a great hound man. His knowledge and intuition in relation to hunting was fascinating to watch. He could read a pack of hounds like a Sat Nav and would quite often reach their destination before them!

Daily role of a huntsman (on non-hunting days)? The obvious daily routine includes washing and bedding down of kennels and feeding hounds. We exercise the hounds regularly and we are lucky to have a quite boreen to do this in the dark winter months. During the winter time when the hounds are hunting, there is always a few cuts and scrapes to take care of. I also have to look after my horses who are such a vital part of providing a good day’s hunting.

Importance of good relations with landowners? Having a respectful relationship with our landowners is as important as having a healthy pack of hounds to hunt with. We do our best to contact every farmer whose land we envisage crossing.

My whipper-in Andy Shinnick fences the land we cross every week and always strives to leave every field in as good a condition as we find it. We are very lucky as we have a very supportive network of landowners in our area and without them we could not enjoy the hunting that we do today.

Importance of local network of puppy walkers? The puppy walkers are hugely important on so many levels. Firstly, it gives the puppies a chance to grow and mature at their own pace. They are given ample attention which allows them to develop and mature properly. They learn to respond to their own name which is very important when they join the pack. It is a practise which allows members of the club to have a huge input in to the development of the pack as a whole.

The hounds that have been with our members as puppies are always the ones we can bring to hound shows to compete. They have the extra bit of good manners and handling.

What is your favourite hunting memory? We met at Ballykenly Stud which is always a great meet for us. My partner Niamh whipped-in on the same day. We were having a nice busy day when at around 3pm, the hounds opened in what turned out to be an hour of non-stop fast hunting. We were met with a five-bar gate that we quite honestly hadn’t time to open. We met with fast ferocious jumping that day and the field still speak of that day with huge fondness.

What is your funniest hunting memory? Very shortly after Christmas one year, one of the whips who will remain nameless was sporting his new jodhpurs which he had received for Christmas. It wasn’t long before we heard a big ripping noise followed by some expletive language. Needless to say he was sorry he had such a big Christmas dinner and spent the rest of the day whipping-in in a pair of lounging pants!

What in your view is the best thing about hunting and being a huntsman?The best thing about hunting is to be able to enjoy a day out with your friends on horseback taking on challenging country whilst watching hounds work well as a pack. I love the camaraderie within our small community. I love how we can all poke fun at each other and still help each other when needs be.

I love being a huntsman because you get out of it what you put into it. It is a great feeling to bring on pups and see them enter successfully into the pack. Having a fast and furious day’s hunting followed by words of grateful thanks from the other hunt members is the best thanks you can get, and makes all the hard work worthwhile.