PHILIP Desmond must be one of the best known names in hunting, be it in Cork or Waterford, and why wouldn’t he be? As well as farming (occasionally), he has hunted the Cloyne Harriers, the Dungarvan Foxhounds, and the famed Avondhu in North Cork.

He is now joint-master with the West Waterford but doesn’t carry the horn as that onerous task has been passed on to Donal McAuliffe, a young dairy farmer, and it would be hard to find a more enthusiastic huntsman this side of Leicestershire.