CHARLIE O’Neill was an equestrian institution, and if you met him once he had that charm that he was an acquaintance and friend for life.

People will remember hearing Charlie before seeing him, that hearty laugh and distinctive jolly voice were recognisable anywhere, whether it was on the hunting field, Punchestown races or Cheltenham. If ever a man had a fulfilled life then it was certainly Charlie O’Neill. When one visited him and his wife Mary at home, there was always a great welcome, followed by a lively conversation on the latest news in the equestrian world.

He farmed and hunted all his life, and provided a constant stream of hirelings for visitors from all over the world, hunting with the Wards Union Staghounds, the South County Dublin Harriers, and the Kildare Foxhounds, where he was also joint-master for 10 seasons.

Steeple to steeplechase

My first time to meet Charlie was in the 1970s with our mutual friend and former stallion master Dominick Coonan, a member of the racing dynasty where his father bred the Grand National winner Team Spirit, and most of his relations hunted or were jockeys, including the seven times champion National Hunt jockey Bobby Coonan. Dominick stood the National Hunt stallion Raise You Ten who sired the Cheltenham Gold Cup winner Ten Up.

Charlie was planning a re-enactment of the first steeplechase that took place in 1752 from the church spire in Doneraile to the church spire in Buttevant, Co Cork. Charlie’s course was from the church spire in Clane to the church spire in Maynooth in Co Kildare. We were all commandeered to participate, and on the day Charlie, always the joker, was sitting on his horse dressed in a long nightshirt and night cap with a long tassel as he shouted to the 170 mounted riders, ‘’I hope you are all insured”, and with that, he immediately blew the hunting horn for the start.

It was like the Charge of the Light Brigade as we galloped down over the first obstacle which was a sheet of galvanise steel only 12 feet wide with a ditch behind it! The noise could be heard in the next county!

Although many finished, as many more were claimed by the yawning ditches and banks of the Kildare countryside, as horses and riders littered every farm in the vicinity. But many made it safely back to the presentation of the prizes in Maynooth Village, where Charlie regaled the audience with his amusing version of where the absent riders were ‘lost in action’!

Hunting

Charlie’s first hunt was with the Naas Harriers, on his pony Blossom, with summers spent at the Kildare Foxhounds Pony Camp and competing at local gymkhanas. His father then bought him a liver chesnut cob with a dock tail, named Sullivan, that kept him to the forefront of the Kildare hounds for a number of seasons.

His contemporaries at the time were people like Lord Patrick Conolly Carew who later represented Ireland in eventing, and his sister Diana, the international showjumper, as well as the Honorary Desmond Guinness from the famous brewing family, all of whom later went on to make their mark in Irish life.

Charlie developed a big hunter hireling business in the 1970s and enjoyed the wide patronage as the large photo gallery in his barn testified to. He was so passionate about hunting that on one occasion he hunted for 11 consecutive days.

Race riding

When racehorse trainer Peter McCreery senior bought the farm next door to the O’Neill’s farm in 1961, it was an opportunity for Charlie to achieve another ambition, race riding. He rode two lots out every morning. But many will remember his favourite horse Abbeylands (by Dreamy Eyes) who was a once-in-a-lifetime horse that was distinctive by a small lump on his belly.

He allowed very few to ride the horse, possibly he recollected only his friend and one of the greatest riders to represent Ireland, Tommy Brennan. The horse hunted, hunter-trialled, team chased and even carried Charlie safely around the La Touche Cross-Country race over four miles and one furlong at the Punchestown Racing Festival. He finished the race standing up in his irons as the crowd gave him a hunting hollor, and Charlie responded as if he won the race! But it was a measure of the man, like the Olympic ideal, it was competing that was important not necessarily winning.

With a few more races under his belt, particularly at Naas on a mare called Cutty Sark, when his idol champion steeplechase jockey Pat Taaffe came upsides and called to Charlie to give him a clear run on the rails. He recalled that it was better than winning the race, as he was flattered that one of Ireland’s greatest jockeys, Pat Taaffe who rode Arkle to win three Cheltenham Gold Cups, even knew his name.

Never a man to do things by half measures, he then headed to the Cheltenham Racing Festival on Hellfire Hostess, a mare he won a bumper and hurdle race on in Navan, and was runner-up on her in Fairyhouse. In Cheltenham, he came home safely 10th out of 28 runners in the Sun Alliance Hurdle in 1978, but was brought down to earth the following morning as he had to share in the milking of 120 cows on his dairy farm!

Jamming with The Rolling Stones

When Rolling Stones guitarist Ronnie Wood bought a house in Kildare, he bought a racehorse and Charlie and Ronnie became great friends. He recalled proudly that he was one of the few to jam with the Rolling Stones when Mick Jagger and the band were attempting to play traditional Irish music at Ronnie’s home. Charlie’s speciality was playing the spoons! It’s an old traditional way of accompanying musicians holding a dessert spoon between the fingers of one hand and tapping out the rhythm with another spoon with the other hand. He got some mileage out of that story over the years as nobody knew for sure if he was serious.

Meeting royalty

And he even shared an afternoon with Prince Charles after official engagements when he joined Charlie’s Irish sailing party on their boat while cruising in the Isles of Scilly. Charlie had a great laugh as he got close to the official party, confusing the local police posing as a member of the International Press Corp, sporting a small instamatic box camera! Charlie asked the Prince, as he passed on his official walkabout on the island, if he would like to join them on their boat after official duties were over.

Not giving it much thought, they were surprised when the official Royal launch pulled alongside their yacht and Prince Charles asked if the offer of a drink still stood. Settling into the cabin, a bottle of Irish whiskey was produced and Charlie and his Irish party of Peter Coonan, Jim Menton, Tom Geoghegan, Greg Howard and Negli Groome, shared many amusing hunting and racing stories as Prince Charles was a keen hunt follower, hunting with many of the packs in the Shires as well as race riding at the time, particularly in the Grand Military Cup.

Before he left, Charlie offered the Prince his best hunter if he would come to Ireland and have a day out with the Kildare Foxhounds as his guest. Sitting proudly on the mantelpiece of his home, I noticed a photo of Prince Charles in the cabin of the yacht in the Scilly Isles sharing a glass of Irish whiskey, with big smiles all round.

Charlie O'Neill and his friend Ray Manders on the motorbike he used for so many charity events, pictured at Tattersalls International Horse Trials in 2009 \ Noel Mullins

Charitable work

Charlie O’Neill made an indelible mark on the lives of many, whether it was the many riders from all parts of the world that rode his hirelings, or the fun he provided on cross-country runs. Charlie set up the Kildare Farmers’ Cross-Country Run that took place on Sundays mainly at the request of his customers renting his hirelings, and for those with horses in livery who were working during the week.

He would lead from the front with a furry hat resembling a fox and used the outings to raise money for many local charities like the Kildare Hospice, Riding for the Disabled, the Irish Country Women’s Association, local football clubs, village Tidy Towns groups, to KARE for the inclusion of people with intellectual disabilities, and the late TV presenter Marian Finucane’s AIDS Program.

His pal Ronnie Wood from the Rolling Stones regularly donated one of his paintings for the charity auction.

His love of riding his Harley Davidson motorbike presented another opportunity to use it for his charitable causes.

His initial trips were to Morocco in north Africa, and then to St Tropez in the south of France before he rode it to Alaska to raise money for equipment for Beaumont Hospital in Dublin. At post event gatherings, Charlie would remind the participants and supporters that, “You are the lucky ones”.

Rich legacy

There will never be another Charlie O’Neill, a man who touched the lives of so many people and deserving causes. Yes, we will always remember him as a fine horseman, a fun person to be with, but his tireless work for charitable causes would humble the lifetime fundraising achievements of many well intentioned fundraisers, and will no doubt do him no harm earning credits with the ‘Man Above’.

Charlie, who passed away in 2011, had a few favourite sayings, “When you’re good you’re good, and when you’re nice you’re nice”. Well Charlie, you lived by your motto, you were good to a lot of people, and you were nice to know. What better epitaph could there be for any man?

Charlie’s son Daragh has continued the family tradition on Abbeyfield Farm and Equestrian Centre where they moved to in the 1990s and provide an all-year-round livery, hirelings, cross-country course, and corporate team building through archery and other outdoor activities.