Name: Oliver Walsh.

From: Co Galway.

Name of Pack: The County Roscommon Hunt.

Kennels based at: Flowerhill, Killimore, Ballinasloe, Co. Galway.

What type of hounds? We have Old English Foxhounds.

What drew you to the job of huntsman? Members of the hunt and friends of mine, Micheál Curley, Morgan Mgeliott, and Vincent Shields invited me to a meeting in Co Roscommon and they asked me would I be interested in joining them on the hunting field.

Where has your interest in hunting stemmed from? My hunting interest came from my father who hunted and bred Irish sport horses all his life.

Where did you originally gain your hunting experience? I gained my experience from hunting alongside Master Dempsey Jnr.

Daily role of a huntsman (on non-hunting days)? On non-hunting days, my duties include feeding and caring for both the hounds and horses and going to see landowners about land for the upcoming meets.

Pre-hunt day prep: My pre-hunt day prep involves getting both the horses and hounds ready and ensuring the transport vehicles are ready as we sometimes have long distances to travel to the meets.

Importance of good relations with landowners? The relationship with the landowners is the most important part of any hunt club. Without the landowners, we would have nowhere to go, thus no sport.

How do you choose the various meets? The meets are usually chosen by myself, the chairman and the secretary of the hunt.

What is your funniest hunting memory? My funniest memory I can recall has to be when hunting in Co Roscommon close behind the town, hounds were hunting very well and my “blood was up!” The hounds hunted through what looked like a “keyhole’ in the hedge-covered wall and I remember just thinking follow on and I rode on closely followed by one of our masters Jack Kirby. We jumped through the hedge/wall to realise that we were after jumping into somebody’s back garden!

To make matters worse as it was a sunny day, the family were sitting out at their garden table with their eyes popping out! Needless to say we very quickly jumped back out again with our tails between our legs and hounds had turned left and were gone on another few fields – I went back to the family that evening to apologise and fix their lawn – thankfully they took it reasonably well!

What is your favourite hunting memory? My favourite hunting memory has to be hunting in a village called Knockcroghery in Co. Roscommon where we had an excellent day of hunting and hounds hunted until dusk.

What in your view is the best thing about hunting and being a huntsman? My passion for horses and hounds is the best thing about the job for me. I also enjoy meeting the landowners and people who hunt and follow the hunt, there is always great comradery.

Oliver Walsh runs the Flowerhill Equestrian Centre. The centre offers all types of horse riding activities to include cross-country jumping and training to suit all levels of riders. The 2019 hunter trials are on in Flowerhill on Easter Monday, April 22nd.