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- 



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