House of ‘pure coursing’

For 51 weekends of the year Sevenhouses is just a crossroads on the R697 a few miles south of Kilkenny; on the second weekend of January however, every year, it becomes a Mecca for the tight-knit coursing community, last-chance-saloon to qualify for the great annual National Coursing Meeting in Clonmel a few weeks later.

This year was no different and on Saturday last, from all over Ireland a huge variety of cars/vans/jeeps, most carrying a canine cargo, converged on the famous field. It’s a completely rural setting, entry is between two fine old piers, then in along the gravel roadway through the first field. There you are greeted by one of the two joint presidents of the club, the venerable Tom O’Shea, collecting the entrance fee and handing over the precious card, which lists the various competitions and runners.

“I’m here all morning every morning of the coursing, every year,” he says. “My father was on the gate the first year it started, 1922; 92 years later I’m still here.” An O’Shea manning the gate continuously for 92 years, surely some kind of record, but is it likely to be extended? “Well I have a few sons and they haven’t that great interest but I’ll keep pushing them!”