HUNTING in an intensively farmed area is always a challenge, and one wonders if followers are really aware of the dedicated work that goes on leading up to each hunt. It is a tribute to the masters and huntsmen’s hard work that they are welcome back to hunt year after year. This year the weather has been so kind in the North County Dublin end of the Fingal hunt country which is intensively farmed with cereal crops and vegetables, that there is very little stubble left as the fields are freshly sown. In the Meath end, with its grassland, cattle are still out as the weather is so mild and it saves on feeding silage. But the Fingals are fortunate to have so many farming families hunting with them. I had the pleasure of whipping-in to the Fingals for nearly 20 seasons, and enjoyed hunting the pack on many occasions. I also hunted the Goldburn Beagles over the same country so I know it well.

The meet was at Whites Bar in Stamullen where the Louth Foxhounds and the Ward Union Staghounds also hunt. I remember meeting a lady with a distinct Dublin 4 accent who was following one day by car. I asked who she hunted with and she replied, ‘I hunt with the Wards, but we jump different ditches to the Fingals’! Hard to believe but true. There is friendly rivalry between the Wards and the Fingals and joint-master Michael McGrath recalled one day when he was hunting with the Wards from Oldtown and the Fingals were at Greenanstown. The Fingals planning to go back to Whites Pub in Stamullen telephoned forward and ordered refreshments. However they did not expect the Wards to catch the deer beside Stamullen and their followers went back to Whites and scoffed all the Fingals refreshments. It is not known how the Fingals got their own back!