South Tyrone Foxhounds

The South Tyrone Foxhounds were reformed in 1960 after a lapse of 30 years. They hunt a wide area bounded by the Blackwater, Lough Neagh, Magherafelt, Omagh, Fivemiletown, Emyvale, Tydavnet, and Glaslough in Monaghan and Tyrone.

Chair: Creighton Boyd

Masters: Stephen Hutchinson, Andy Oliver and Tony Weir

Huntsman: Ryan Carvill

Whipper-in: Paddy Considine (professional) and Paul Kinane (honorary)

Hunt Secretary: Tony Weir

Countryman: Sean ‘Duckie’ Farrell

DON’T open the back door of the horse box,” shouted Paul Kinane as I met him on the M1 Motorway heading north. “There is a hound of Lord Waterford’s in there, and if he gets out we will be chasing him all over North County Dublin and miss the South Tyrone Foxhounds meet at Brackerville.” As it transpired it was not a meet to miss as they had the best hunt of the season, so far!

Paul, an honorary whipper-in, was bringing the hound up to Ryan Carvill, the huntsman of the South Tyrone. The hound never made a sound knowing that he was in good company with two tacked up hunters sharing the accommodation.

The last time I was in Brackerville at The Four Corners Inn, joint-master Andy Oliver proposed to his wife Saffron Hutchinson. It was also the annual Christmas tour of the hunting pubs by the hunt followers with their traditional band on the night, The Rambling Pitchforks.

The joint-masters are Stephen Hutchinson, who has been in office since the early 1980s, and hunted the pack for many seasons. Stephen is the chief executive of Tayto NI and UK which has a large portfolio of companies in the group. The others are racehorse trainer Andy Oliver and the newly appointed master Tony Weir whose business is in heavy engineering.

Travelling with Paul Kinane was Ciaran Sweeney, who hunts with the Westmeath Foxhounds, as farrier Shane Crabbe was in Spain for Conor Hogan’s stag party. Kinane and his wife Amy, a lecturer in equine science in University of Limerick, now concentrate on breeding racehorses. Their home-bred progeny are coming through with Lady Stormborn by the Coolmore stallion Camelot breaking her maiden by over 20 lengths at Leopardstown recently, trained by Andrew Slattery and ridden by his son Andy, the new champion apprentice. She will go for a listed race next. Amy was not hunting on the day but long-reining an Australia filly, and she has put the other youngsters through their paces under a dressage routine. They have colts by Gleneagles and Power going into training this coming season.

Ciaran Sweeney recalled breaking his collar bone hunting and the hospital staff, not being accustomed to the value of hunt followers precious well-fitting hunting coats, wanted to cut off his jacket, but he managed to save it. Apparently just like wrist bands for diabetics or other conditions, there are wrist bands now for hunt followers who may have a leg injury and don’t want hospital staff cutting off their costly boots that state, ‘My boots have zips!’

Singing in tune

The hunt have recently made a significant investment in their kennels by adding new hound runs and lodges, with quality materials such as shuttered concrete walls, Belfast tack sand-blasted railings and Bangor blue slates. Former master Dr Cathal Cassidy returned from New Zealand, where he is on an overseas posting, to cut the tape. This was followed by the Puppy Show, judged by John Henry of the Meaths and Peter Cahill of the Kildares. The clubhouse was heaving to capacity for the hunt black tie gala dinner with over 100 dinner guests and a musical evening with talented soprano Helene Hutchinson. When she had completed her performance at the dinner, she went out with Dr Cassidy to the kennels and sang to the hounds. They responded by joining her in the chorus and it made wonderful harmony. And yes they were singing in key!

Ryan Carvill, who is one of the foremost breeders of hounds in Ireland, has over 50 couple in kennels and has three hounds in pup to three Peterborough champions, Grove & Rufford Laxton, Saxton and Broker. Tommy Considine from Spancil Hill in Co Clare hunted the East Clare Harriers and whipped into the County Clares before taking up the role as professional whipper-in to the South Tyrone, and he remarked, ‘This is real hunting’. His parents - Joe, who hunted with the County Clares for over 30 seasons, and his mother Eva - were there to support him, as was his girlfriend Aoidhinn Bannon who was hunting.

Farrier Evan McKillian was busy at the meet, replacing a shoe on Kinane’s new hunter from the Golden Vale. His well-known hunter Dexter has gone to the VWH with Melanie Duff. Also out were Austin Weir, John Keys, Denis Canavan, Neil Currie and Naomi Buchannan.

Following by road were Olivia and Toby Clowes. Olivia had a baby only seven weeks previously but can’t wait to get back in the saddle. Also out were Colm Coney, a keen wildlife follower, Cathal Farrell and Matthew Carvill. Countryman Sean ‘Duckie’ Farrell was away at a wedding in Cavan.

Huntsman Ryan Carvell had a decent pack out with 19½ couple, all carefully bred for fox sense, drive and voice. Clarke’s, off the Tullabeg Road across from Paddy McEvoy’s, the former hunt honorary treasurer, was blank. It was an epic moment for me in all my years reporting on the South Tyrone Foxhounds, I actually witnessed a gate being opened! Toby Clowes, the son-in-law of senior master Stephen Hutchinson opened it for his father-in-law. In Stephen’s defence, I have to say he did not ask for the gate to be opened and anyway hounds were not hunting at the time but still it is a rare occurrence in these parts.

The shucks in Alister Turtle’s were blank, so the huntsman crossed the road opposite Raughan’s to Raymond and Angus McAteer’s where hounds spoke briefly in a big blackthorn hedge but it looked as if a fox had left earlier. It was like an engine starting and then gaining momentum as hounds feathered away on a line and as time went on, their voices got stronger. By now their voices were booming. The list of farms that they crossed was like reading all the folios of every field in the townland around Brackerville and Mousetown. With the going deep and the pace fast, it was the survival of the fittest as hedges, drains, gates, and wire loomed up field after field. But the casualties started to mount also.

Hounds were flying left-handed over O’Neill’s by Patsy Dowey’s yard and left again to Fred Lowe’s and back right-handed for Rafferty’s Hill. Then right again in direction of O’Neills of Coalisland where the fox was headed on the road by traffic and turned back in the direction of Rafferty’s Hill and onto McAdam’s and right by Stewartstown Gaelic Pitch. He crossed the road again by Sheila O’Neill’s and right for James Lowe’s then over the main Ardboe to Coalisland road to Patsy Dowey’s farm where they marked him in the farmyard at the back of the town of Coalisland. With nothing left in the tank, the huntsman wisely blew for home after a run of an hour and half.

Growing fund

Mark English informed me that they have had 55 fallers in nine meets at £10 each for the Tumblers Club, the proceeds go to charity and the hunt supporters’ projects. The roll call on the day of fallers were huntsman Ryan Carvill, master Tony Weir, whip Paddy Considine twice, Denis Canavan and John Keys twice, filmed struggling out of a river, visitor Ciaran Sweeney fell twice and was feeling proud of himself jumping a gate with a ditch on the landing side, but he proceeded to fall at a simple one in the middle of a field!

There was a sighting of honorary whipper-in Paul Kinane on the ground. He apparently had a quick look around to see if anyone saw him, still holding onto the reins and vaulting back into the saddle and away. But although he denies it, he was sighted, and owes the kitty £10! The man that keeps the tally, Mark English, has a very simple philosophy, ‘If you are not jumping big fences, you are not falling’.

The survivors on the day posed for a group photo, and then it was back to the Four Corners Inn for refreshments and more ‘tall stories’!