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JOHNA.SEAVERNS >'i ffA T <"^*^^ S,!WB«*-I E. VVv^^ Q..»^>>- Webster Family Library of Veterinary Medicine Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine at Tufts University • 200 Westboro Road North Grafton, MA 01536 The Aarpuis or Waterford IRISH SPORT AND SPORTSMEN BY B. M. FITZPATRICK. D UBLIN: M. H. GILL & SON, 50 UPPER SACKVILLE-ST. 1878. '11 [all bights HESEKVKT). TKISTH) by M. }1. 011.1. ANU SON, '>V, VITKIl S.\CKVU.l.S-eT EKET, UVUI.l.'* I DEDICATE, BY PERMISSION, TUKSK SKETCHES OF lEISH SPORT AND SPORTSMEN, TO THE jflttrqui^ an> ^MarcliionfBS of liatfrforJ, AND IN DOING SO, I FEEL I HAVE TAKEN A STEP TO ENSURE THE SUCCESS OF MY BOOK; FIRSTLY, ON ACCOUNT OF THE PLACE WHICH THE HOUSE OF BERESFORD FILLS IN IRISH SPORTSMEN's HEARTS, AND THEN, THAT ON THE OPENING PAGE MAY BE INSCRIBED THE NAMES OF THE TWO GREAT FAMILIES WHICH, ON EITHER SIDE OF THE CHANNEL, HAVE BEEN, AT MOST CARE, TO FOSTER THE SISTER SPORTS, STEEPLECHASING AND FOX-HUNTING. THE AUTHOR. PREFACE. N compiling this book I have been forced to confront many difficulties. Like all who venture on novel essays I found the most formidable obstacle was the one I least expected. Prior to enter- ing on the task of placing before the public a reliable statement such as I proposed to produce, I had to look out for authentic records. The kindness with which many Masters of Hounds and others have seconded my endeavours was quite remarkable. 1 have a very grateful duty to fulfil when I acknowledge it in the most marked way; and though, for obvious reasons, I do not particularise by name my volunteers and assistants, I am not the less grateful to them. When I conceived the scheme of this publication, I thought that written stories of interesting information of the doings of Irish Sportsmen, long since dead, their horses and their hounds, might be dug up by industri- ous research. In this I was mistaken, and the ample authenticated written evidences I had quite confidently 6 PREFACE. expected, turned out to be very meagre. Those so generously supplied me, were on the whole, quite re- liable, though occasionally in opposition to traditions which a minute inquiry oftimes very curiously sup- ported. The knowledge of my informants seldom extended beyond, sometimes not to, the generation which preceded them. On consideration, I cannot but think that the discovery which I made as to the paucity of our annals of the subjects I treat of, is a great justification for my endeavouring to treat of them at all, for I may, perhaps, flatter myself that I can, in some sense, supply for my successors the want which, in my own instance, 1 had much trouble in provid- ing. My task, as far as it extended to Racing, was easier than that which touched Hunting, as the " Calendars '* supplied a sure foundation for my work. Their existence, too, made it less incumbent on me to be as diffuse as I am in my memoranda of the chase. In advance, I have to ask indulgence for the shortcomings of these phages, of which no one can be more conscious than I am. Had others written long ago what they knew or heard, it would have been easy for me to have presented some old wine in a new bottle. Their neglect to do so is, however, sufficient " raison d'etre " for my attempting to remedy their default. In conclusion I have only to once more acknowledge the sympathetic assistance which has been graciously given to me by a crowd of witnesses, PREFACE. 7 SO large as to confirm my anticipation that the story I present to my readers is addressed to a very numerous class, whose merits in no measure fall short of those of bygone ** Irish Sport and Sportsmen." BERNARD M. J. FITZPATRICK. Johnsioivn House, Sirajfav, Co. Kihlare. Christmas, iSyy, CONTENTS. CHAP. PAGE I. The Kildare Hounds . II. The Curraghmore 45 III. The Ward Union Hounds 90 IV. The Meath Hounds . 105 I II V. The Louth Hounds . IZI VI. En Route to Gal way . 126 VII. The Galway Hounds . VIII. The Carlow and Island Hunt Hounds 148 IX. The Tipperary Hounds 153 X. The Westmeath Hounds 159 XL The Cashelmore Hounds 167 XIL The Wexford Hounds 180 XIII. The Limerick Foxhounds 18s XIV. Hunting in Roscommon 204 XV. The South Union, United Hunt, and Muskerry Hound 21Z XVI. The Ormond and King's County Hounds . 224 XVII. The Queen's County Hounds 234 XVIII. The Limerick Staghounds, Duhallow and Lisnagon Hounds . • 244 XIX. The Kilkenny Hounds 249 List of Harriers in Ireland 268 XX. Henry, third Marquis of Waterford . 273 XXL The Corinthian Cup Picture, Punchestown, 1854 300 XXII. The Corinthian Cup Vicinrt—fcontinuedJ 315 XXIII. The Corinthian Cup V'lcime—fcontinuedJ 319 XXIV. Mr. John Hubert Moore 336 XXV. Mr. Allen M'Donogh 343 I a PART I. IRISH SPORT AND SPORTSMEN CHAPTER I. THE KILDARE HOUNDS. HE "Killing" Kildare premier pack, &c., are phrases which hunting men are used to apply as naturally as young men and maidens, the slaves of Cupid, do "Duck," "Dear," or "Darling.' And well these hounds merit the flatt(^.ring desig- nation : assuredly, taking this sea-girth isle as the boundary, the pack is not inferior to any. It may well be compared with any in the kingdom ; and the country over which they hunt is, in a fox-hunting sense, the " cream *' of all Ireland. The first master of the " Kildares" was Squire Connolly, of Castletown, a very eccentric, jolly soul ; he was a thorough sportsman of the good old school, a notorious bon vivafit. He kept open house, and on hunting days all who participated in the pleasures of the chase with him were expected to dine in Ca§tle- 2 14 IRISH SPORT AND SPORTSMEN. town ; none were invited, all were welcome when they " came ; in truth, it may be said, that though he feasted all the great he ne'er forgot the small." Some years before Squire Connolly's death, the pack was kept at Bishopscourt, though he was the recog- nised master; when he died in 1804, Sir Fenton Aylmer succeeded him, and kept the hounds for a year or two ; and then Mr. Arthur Henry took them, and kept them till 18 10, when Sir Fenton Aylmer resumed the mastership. He had a very famous huntsman, Jack Grennon, gifted with a grand voice ; a first-rate rider, but like all of us, he had his faults, and one of them was being too hasty to please the hunting men of his time, though, I dare say, his manner would be considered not unbecoming in these more demo- cratic days. The whips, Will Mathews and his son, were men who subsequently acquired a great repu- tation. In 1 8 13, an accident occurred w^hich destroyed the best hounds in the kennel. The meet was at Tipper cross-roads, near Naas ; a fox was found in Forenaughts, and a grand run ensued to Poulaphouca, beloved of pic-nicers. Just near the spot where the bridge now stands Reynard plunged into the rushing torrent, thirteen couple of the pack followed suit, there was a strong "freshet" in the Liffey at the time, and they were all drowned. In 1 8 14, Sir John Kennedy became master : he cer- tainly may be called the " father of the hunt;" his popu- larity was as widespread as it was deserved ; a more enthusiastic worshipper never paid homage at Diana's shrine, nor a more genuine sportsman ever wore at his ; THE KILDARE HOUNDS. I5 saddle bow that emblem of mastership—the silver horn. 1 may say with truth, "Tis' now more than sixty years since he assumed the post Of master to the Kildare hounds, when he was needed most And. though nigh single-handed, he proved himself a host, In making them what they are now—in truth, the country's boast." I have gained much information from a very inte- resting IVIS. from the Johnstown-Kennedy library; and this will be an appropriate place for me to offer my very sincere thanks to Sir Edward Kennedy for his kindness in allowing me to inspect them, and to assure my readers that, without that kind indulgence, they, and I, must have remained in ignorance of what I consider the most important epoch in the formation of the Kildare hounds. Sir John Kennedy kept a diary of not only every run, but what is an even more pleasant reminiscence, the names of those who shared the sport with him. It would be well if the gentlemen of the present day followed his example in this respect : the records would be read with interest by a "generation yet unborn." One likes to see the names of parents, relatives, or friends recorded in such old archives — they recall scenes to memory dear. Indeed, it was thinking on this sub- ject that first put the idea into my head of writ- ing this volume. The history of the different packs must of necessity be a matter of dry and simple detail ; but sporting readers are not inclined to be critical, so long as they perceive the vi vida vis^ the fervidus, afflatus in works such as " Irish Sport and Sportsmen^ Such records, I opine, afford pleasure and recreation to many. If it be pleasant to peruse works which revive in our minds past enjoyments, 6 1 IRISH SPORT AND SPORTSMEN. shared In when " our lines were cast in pleasant places," 'tis especially so in the evening of our lives, when our sun has almost set, and when we by anticipation feel the chill touch of the " wooden surtout," or hear the final inevitable summons.

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