MICHAEL Dempsey is a household and respected name in hunt circles all over the world. He was joint-master and huntsman of the Galway Blazers for over 30 seasons, and his son, Tom, followed him as huntsman for another 20 seasons or more having whipped into his father previously. Michael also hunted Lady Molly Cusack-Smith’s Bermingham and North Galway Hounds, and to complete the picture, he hunted the East Galway Hounds which possibly made him the only huntsman to hunt all of the County Galway packs in his career.

An exceptional horseman, Michael probably rode much lighter than his true weight and as a result, he was easy on horses which meant that they lasted longer and were always at their best when he sounded, ‘Gone Away’. He won point-to-points and believed that the shortest distance between two points is a straight line, so it made him difficult to stay with hunting on many occasions. I can still see him sitting still facing a big wall, just locking on with his legs attacking any wall that came in his sights. Tom was a junior international event rider and went on to whip-in to his father at the Blazers before following him as huntsman.