ONE CONSTANT in this series is how characters, stories and bloodlines often crisscross. For example, Ballintogher Dollibird, the chesnut mare Trish Dodd pointed out in their field in Foxford, had a look of familiarity about her and when her passport was duly checked, Clover Hill did indeed appear in the pedigree of the Guidam mare.

This was through her second dam Collola Girl, bred on the Aughrim battlefield – Collolla marked the main clash between the Jacobite and Williamite infantry during the bloodiest battle in Irish history in 1691 – by Leslie Wakefield.