AS I rang Seosamh Murphy, the owner of the famed Castle Arms in Durrow, he was on his way to Glenview Stud with a mare to be covered by Shirocco. Well, it’s that kind of hotel. It’s not your ultra posh modern concrete palace but a weary traveller is assured of a warm welcome and a decent meal without breaking the bank. Invariably, a sporting visitor will meet a like-minded spirit to discuss the day’s racing or hunting.

I have happy memories of evenings spent in the Castle Arms after a good day with the Laois Foxhounds. What sets it apart from many similar establishments is that invariably, the chief barman would be dressed in full hunting regalia having quickly disposed of his hunt coat on a redundant beer tap.

The barman in question would be Seosmah Murphy, the ever genial proprietor of the Castle Arms on the square in Durrow. The Murphys came to Durrow in the mid 1950s when his father Joe returned from Australia and bought what was then known as White’s Commercial Hotel. A good hotelier and an astute businessman, he went on to buy several properties in the area and 200 acres of land, which is now farmed by his son Thomas who, with his daughters Cait and Eabha, are regulars with the Laois Foxhounds. His son Kieran practises as a veterinary surgeon in nearby Mountmellick.

Meanwhile, another brother Sean runs the Ashbrook Arms which was once a Bianconi Inn and now hosts a top-class restaurant with rooms attached.

Horses and business

Growing up, there were always loads of ponies available for the boys but while young Seosamh rode quite a bit, his main interest was in hurling and he played up to county level. On leaving school, he went Shannon Hotel College where he got to know his namesake, though no relation, Louis Murphy of Dunraven.

David Thompson (former huntsman Laois Foxhounds), David Lalor MFH, Tomas Murphy, brother of Seosamh Murphy, Marcus McLoughlin MFH, Aoife Murphy all mounted). Standing: Joe Murphy (father of Seosamh), Marye Blundel, Joe Lalor and Billy Lanigan, pictured outside the Castle Arms Hotel, Durrow \ Catherine Power

On finishing, he went the usual route of gaining experience across the water with Trust Houses, first in Heathrow, and eventually finishing his tour of duty in Guilford which was convenient for racing in Epsom and Ascot before returning to take over the family hotel. It was then he rekindled his interest in horses and his first good hunter was by Ballinvilla and he would have had many good days with Billy Phelan as huntsman. Even back then, the Lalors were a major force in the Laois Hunt with Harry Lalor as senior master with Mary Pennefeather and David, the current senior master.

The Murphys have always been a racing family and his dad used have horses in training with Joe Crowley and his son-in-law, Aidan O’Brien, from their yard at Owning near Piltown. Seosamh currently has horses in training with Bill Lanigan who trains in Coolrain. In partnership with renowned equine veterinary surgeon, Paddy O’Hanlon, they currently have the very useful Stucker Hill.

Seosamh thinks the world of his present hunter who a raking 17.2hh, by Lake Shore Road, who was brought on before him by Abbeyleix sporting artist Liam Clancy whose portrait of an opening meet outside the Arms sits proudly in the foyer. He has now been joined in the hunting field by his eldest daughter Grainne (13) who is a keen pony clubber.

Seosamh recalls an evening when a trainer on his way back from Fairyhouse’s Irish National meeting, broke down in Durrow enroute to distant Clonakilty. Both man and horse were accommodated overnight in the Arms. That’s what I would call a proper hotel!

During the current shutdown, work is going ahead on modernisations and improvements in the hotel. We can but hope that these dark days will not last too much longer and in the words of the war time song made famous by Dame Vera Lynn:

“There’ll be love and laughter

And peace ever after

Tomorrow, when the world is free”