HISTORY OF THE KILDARE HUNT 



for a minimum of five days a fortnight for a 

 guaranteed subscription of ^£500 a year. In what 

 way he fulfilled the undertaking during twenty-six 

 hunting seasons, I shall hope to show. 



It was said that when Mr Kennedy took the 

 hounds there were but eighteen proper coverts 

 in the whole country, and that when he gave up the 

 Mastership there were no less than forty-nine, all 

 in excellent order. The importance of the question 

 of coverts is constantly reflected in the minutes 

 from the earliest pages of the existing book. Apart, 

 indeed, from the inevitable details of the ballots 

 and finance, there was no question which occupied 

 the attention of successive Committees and general 

 meetings of the Hunt so constantly as that of the 

 fox coverts, their acquisition, maintenance and 

 renewal. It would seem from the records of the 

 earlier years that a majority of the then existing 

 gorse coverts were rented from owners or tenants 

 at an average rental of j^io apiece. Others were 

 given rent free by public-spirited members of the 

 Hunt or by sporting farmers in whose holdings 

 they happened to lie, and the minutes are full of 

 appreciation and thanks for individual gifts of this 

 kind. Other resolutions record the result of the 

 deliberations of Committees as to the making of 

 new coverts which involved the acquisition of 

 land, the planting of gorse and considerable 

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