IT was a nautical scene as we arrived at Luska Pier near Puckane just last Saturday for a meet of the North Tipperary Foxhounds. While there was scenery to die for with the expanses of Lough Derg looking over to Island More and, in the distance, the shores of Co Clare, there was neither shop nor pub nor indeed any kind of habitation nearby. I had hunted from this very meet many seasons ago, when hounds were hunted by Oliver Ryan-Purcell, now master and huntsman of the neighbouring Ormond.

But that didn’t in any way take from the occasion, with some 25 riders and Denis O’Sullivan, with as nice a pack of Old English hounds as you are likely to find in these islands. Denis has only joined the hunt this season, having previously hunted the neighbouring Ormond for the last 10 seasons or so. Originally from Kerry, his father, Michael, is both master and chairman of the North Kerry Harriers, which featured in the pages of The Irish Field only last week. Many of the familiar faces were there, such as husband and wife team, Dymphna and Declan Carroll from Clonakenny. Sarah Carroll from Ballyanny, on a smart chesnut with tail done up polo-style, really looked the part. She and her partner, Michael Quigley, run a very extensive dairy farm.