14 MEMOIR OF THE KILKENNY HUNT. 



In a county where no pack of hounds had before 

 been established, the field was naturally at first very 

 limited as to numbers, and sometimes only half-a- 

 dozen accompanied the Master, though, as time went 

 on and the doings of the hounds became more widely 

 known, the number of sportsmen gradually increased, 

 and in time became very large. The palmiest period 

 was probably between the years 1835 and 1850. 

 However, in the year 1816 Mr. Power speaks of 

 twenty horsemen as a large field. The earliest 

 hunting members of the Club comprised Sir Nicholas 

 Loftus, Sir Wheeler Cuffe, Mr. Bayly of Norelands, 

 Mr. Croker of Limerick, Mr. Joseph Greene, Mr. 

 Henry Amias Bushe, Mr. Herbert, the Messrs. Hunt, 

 Mr. Richard Langrishe (afterwards Sir Richard 

 Langrishe), Mr. John Bushe, the Rev. Richard 

 Birmingham. These may be termed the " Old 

 Guard" of the Hunt. 



In establishing a county pack, Mr. Power or 

 Captain Power, as he was often called from having 

 been captain of local yeomanry in the year of the 

 Irish Rebellion following the example of Melton, 

 Tarporley, and other hunting centres in England, 

 formed the Kilkenny Hunt Club, the first of its kind 

 instituted in Ireland. The club-house, till then 

 called Rice's Hotel, then received its cognomen, 

 which it has retained ever since. Twice a year, in 

 November and February, its members assembled, 

 and the gathering generally lasted a fortnight. On 

 these occasions Mr. Power often kept his pack in 

 Kilkenny for a week at a time, and hunted the 

 surrounding country. The dinners held at night 



