The small village of Ballycommon is just off the motorway and nowadays almost a suburb of the county town of Nenagh. The village was absolutely buzzing as we arrived on St Stephen’s Day with horses, horseboxes and foot followers aplenty.

The North Tipperary would normally have a field of thirty plus but on the day that was in it there were closer to seventy mounted with a multiple of that on foot. Almost the first person we met, Dr Andrew Vance, former master of the North Tipperary who comes with a black type pedigree being the son of the legendary Billy Vance, long time master and huntsman of the Fermanagh Harriers. Andrew’s mother was also on hand and holding a watching brief. Andrew, owner of as estate in nearby Monygall, is a GP in the UK in the greater Manchester area.