HISTORY OF THE KILDARE HUNT 



brief account of a run in the hill country on No- 

 vember 6: " Found at Rusborrow in the turnips, 

 ran well to Woolfstown, found a fresh fox ran by 

 Blessington, rocked beyond Kilbride. Very good 

 sport." It will be seen that Mr Kennedy did not 

 waste words on any raptures in recording his sport. 

 Here is another entry of what was obviously an 

 exceptional day: 



" loth. Jan. 1816. Found Slate Quarries; the best 

 run I ever saw, earthed in Stonebrook." 



This diary, then, brief as its particulars are, is 

 of the greatest value to me in my attempt to re- 

 construct this great but vanished period of the 

 Kildare Hunt, and I am additionally fortunate in 

 the great help afforded to me by the only surviving 

 son of Sir John Kennedy, Mr Robert Kennedy of 

 Baronrath, whose many friends are delighted to 

 see him hale and hearty, and with a perfect memory 

 of those distant days of Kildare sport. 



Mr John Kennedy always hunted the hounds 

 himself, and his two whips, James Byrke and 

 Martin Guirke lived in the house at Johnstown. 

 Mr Kennedy himself kept four horses, with which 

 he managed to hunt five days a fortnight season 

 after season, and each whip had three. Mr Robert 

 Kennedy distinctly remembers seeing the whips 

 at their breakfast in the servants' hall on hunting 

 mornings, that breakfast consisting of a pot of 

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