THE opening meet of the season is always special. After the long summer layoff, we were eagerly looking forward to hearing the cry of hounds, the sound of the horn, the dash and bluster of the field as hounds found their first fox of the season on Saturday, October 28th. But to add to all that, it was going to be Oliver Ryan-Purcell’s first day as master and huntsman of the historic Ormond Hunt. Hounds are kennelled nearby in Cloughjordan in North Tipperary. Surely a red-letter day even before they moved off!

Now Oliver is no stranger to the delights and the rigours of hunting hounds. As a lad, back in Churchtown in the heart of Duhallow country, he kept a private pack of foot beagles. From such modest beginnings, having qualified as a solicitor, he hunted the famed Scarteen Black and Tans for a season, where he showed great sport while his cousin Chris Ryan was taking a sabbatical. Subsequently, he hunted the North Tipperary Foxhounds for five seasons.