HISTORY OF THE KILDARE HUNT 



without any hesitation in Kildare, I think it 

 behoves me to state at length all the information I 

 have been able to gather about it. It may be that 

 sportsmen in other hunting districts may have runs 

 of their own packs on record which may lead them 

 to challenge the supremacy claimed by Kildare. In 

 that case the fullest particulars possible at this date 

 are obviously desirable. 



The Laragh Run. 

 In that very interesting periodical, Irish Sporty 

 for February 25, 1895, appeared a long and detailed 

 account of this famous run. It contains some in- 

 accuracies, which Major Mansfield, who was him- 

 self in the run, has been so kind as to correct, in his 

 recollection of the day, which I give on a later page. 

 But I think it worth printing for reasons given 

 above. 



On the 26th November 1859, when Lord Naas, 

 afterwards the Earl of Mayo was master, the Kil- 

 dare Hounds had a red letter day and no mistake. 

 The meet was Maynooth and such a glorious hunt- 

 ing morning was it that, jogging along Stephen 

 Goodall, the huntsman, remarked to Mr Robert 

 Kennedy, who was then secretary to the Hunt and 

 is still alive and well, that if only they could find a 

 good fox a fine run was a certainty. 



In those days Irish countries were not looked 

 268 



