The East Galway Foxhounds

The East Galway Foxhounds were formed in 1880 and disbanded in 1956, but revived in 1969 and are going strong ever since.

Acting chair: Dermot Duffy

Masters: Joe Cavanagh, Olive Broderick, Niall Earls and Pascal Conroy

Huntsman: Liam McAlinden

Whippers-in: Alan Briscoe and Neville Horseman

Field-master: Cathal Gibbons

Honorary secretary: Kathleen Ward

Point-to-point secretary: Bridie Larkin

THEY say there is a difference between a house and a home, and also between a population of people just living in an area and a community.

Community is the glue that binds people together, and this was very evident at the East Galway Foxhounds meet at Shragh Community Centre on the banks of the River Shannon.

The Community Centre recently built an extension, and like so many voluntary organisations, was in need of funds. So up stepped a local young farmer, Mike Kenny, and organised his friends in the East Galway Hunt to have a meet with all the field money going to the building fund. Mike whipped into the Roscommon Harriers and follows the East Galways and they turned out in large numbers, both mounted and road followers.

One could not help thinking that the late chairman of the hunt, Tom Fahy, a farmer himself, would have been so proud with his two sons, Tomas and Colm, representing the Fahy family in such a worthy cause.

The committee of the community centre - Enda and Orla Fell, Joanne and Brian Page and Mary Flanagan - could have not been more kind with an amazing display of homemade refreshments, all served with a smile.

Chairman Tom Slattery is also a key member of the team. The community is small, literally in their hundreds, but they do outstanding work in organising activities like functions for senior citizens, card games, charity walks, tea dances, set dancing, defibrillator courses, fitness classes and much more.

The Community Centre motto appears to be, ‘Do good deeds for others’, and ‘Come hungry and leave full’!

Full credit

Master Joe Cavanagh was so enthusiastic leaving home that he forgot his hunting boots and had to return home to collect them. Niall Earls was on a smashing 16.3hh hunter by the thoroughbred Carlo Banks out of an Irish Draught mare. Olive Broderick of Kylemore Stud stands a host of stallions who have excelled in all equine disciplines including the Irish Draughts Cappa Cassanova and Cappa Aristocrat as well as providing semen from Huntingfield Rebel and Crosstown Dancer. Other well-known stallions standing there are Womanizer, Watermill Swatch, Tyson, Indigo VDL, VDL Goodluck and a new stallion KMS Rooney.

Whipper-in Alan Briscoe was on his aptly named hunter, The Giraffe, who stands over 17hh. Field-master Cathal Gibbons may have had the flu but was not missing his hunting.

I think this is the best pack of East Galway hounds that I have seen in many years, they are a real credit to their huntsman Liam McAlinden. I visited the kennels that morning which he manages on his own with minimal help.

His hounds have amazing drive, voice, and independence as demonstrated the way they cast themselves all afternoon. If they had more open country on the day, I think the followers would be put to the pin of their collars to stay with them.

Later, Ann Hanniffy, a former whipper-in with the Laois Foxhounds and someone who understands the finer points of hunting hounds, remarked that you could cover the pack with a sheet they worked so close to each other and they were such a pleasure to watch.

Passionate workers

The hunt have some great workers, like hunt honorary secretary Kathleen Ward, Marie Dunne, Johnny O’Donnell and his son Shane, who do such an excellent job on fencing, fixing the country and meeting farmers.

Dominick Gwynn Jones was hunting with his wife, event rider Louisa Clarke, a member of the Young Riders’ eventing team with Sarah Ennis, Sasha Harrison and Austin O’Connor in 1996. She worked with eventing brothers Steven and Trevor Smith in Hillsborough, Co Down.

They now hunt with Meath native Ollie Finnegan, huntsman of the Quorn, and the ‘go to’ person for hirelings to surrounding hunts.

Dominick won the Golden Button Race in 2015 in the Ledbury country on Another Puzzle, while Wexford native Paul Scallon was third on Los Galacticos. Dominick’s father Tim was joint-master of the East Galways from 1973- ‘81 with Charlie Bishop and Tom Long. Dominick was also a useful point-to-point jockey.

Followers aplenty

Also hunting were former Blazers masters David McCarthy and Dr Rose Dempsey with Leona Walsh and Francie Burke. Declan and Marie Leahy’s daughter Niamh was hunting as was Jack Devlin, Lorraine Flannery, Elizabeth Gildea, Owen Hilti, Kathleen Ward, Stephen Conroy Godfrey, Katie and Marie Gibbons, Grace and Gerry McCarthy, Shauna and Gabriel Freeney, Colm O’Donnell, the acting chairman Dermot Duffy, Aidan Dolan (on an appaloosa) and Caitriona O’Shea who made no secret that both their horses are for sale. William Leahy was also mounted as was Pat Hardiman.

Following by car and foot were Ann Hanniffy, former Laois honorary whipper-in Richard Markham, former huntsman of the Ormond, photographer Rachel Howard, Michelle Gilligan, Pat Slattery, Tony Colter and Declan O’Meara, who kindly drove me around.

I also met Jimmy King from the Ormond, Richard Markham, Natasha Salmon who is originally from Modena in Italy, sport horse breeder Larry Gohery, professional golfer Richard Clarke, Philip, Brian and Conor Briscoe, Pat Slattery, Tony Porter and Antoinette Kenny. There was talk of the late Mattie Forde, who named his dogs simply Blackie, Brownie and Whitie!

Hounds were taken up to Cloonmoylan House to Mrs Lydia Hilti’s house as her grandson Owen was hunting. Brian Page’s covert was blank. They hacked up through Brendan Kemple’s and Paul Mullins’s to get to Michael Shields’s where hounds struck on a brace straight away in the briars. They settled on one that made a beeline for Shannon Bog where the huntsman stopped them.

Paul Mullins’ out farm was blank but better luck was found as they went through Michael Shields’ out farm, then Kemples and Pages to find at the bottom of Mullins’ home farm, on the banks of the Shannon, where he ran back through Page’s Wood, up by the hedge and was headed at the top of the road by car followers.

Showing good anticipation, field-master Cathal Gibbons kept the followers back off the line as a dark brown coated fox broke from the wood beside Shannon Bog. He crossed the lane and checked at Sullivan’s Sheds, then took his time crossing the road at Shields’ to the back of Hilti’s and stopped at the bog again.

The best run of the day was from the back of Paul Mullins’s farmyard where another brace of foxes were in residence. They gave the run around to the pack, playing hide and seek in the bales of silage, but eventually one fox broke across the road into Tony Porter’s as Mike Kenny galloped back to the yard to get the rest of the pack on.

This fox ran to the banks of the Shannon and through Shragh Bog before swinging right, crossing another road into Declan Flanagan’s, Denis Lyons’, Anthony Hoban’s and Camillus Lyons’ where he turned all the way back to the find. He then crossed the road again after a cracking run of one hour and a half in pitch darkness.

The hunt are fortunate to have a good team in the huntsman’s wife Dorothy, a daughter of Blazers field-master Willie Leahy while Ann Hannify kept with the pace on foot and was there to help the huntsman at the end of the day, as was former Ormond huntsman Richard Markham. It can be a thankless job for a huntsman to be out late at night on his own picking up a missing hound as they can cover so much ground in a short time.

Shragh Community Centre volunteers are certainly proud of their surroundings with such community spirit and a smashing hall that does so much good work for all ages in their community.