I  have  to  adhere  carefully  to  the  line  of  accuracy,  having
to  deal  with  facts  and  shun  fiction ;  so  that  as  I  do
not  know  very  much  of  the  hunting  territory  of  these
packs,  their  supporters,  followers,  or  of  the  hounds,  I
must  be  brief  in  dealing  with  them.
The  South  Union  Hounds  were  established  in
1 830 ;  they  were  Irish  bred,  and  comprised  drafts
from  the  best  kennels  in  the  South,  such  as  Mr.
Hedges  Eyre  of  Macroom  Castle,  Captain  George
Rye  of  Ryecourt,  William  Baldwin,  and  Mr.  Stannus.
They  hunted  both  hares  and  foxes  until  1866,  and
since  then  they  have  been  regularly  established  as
foxhounds.  The  present  master's  father  was  the  first
to  preside  over  them,  and  he  kept  them  till  his  death
in  1840.  During  his  long  reign  he  had  only  two
huntsmen,  William  Sullivan  and  Denis  Hallis.  Mr.
T.  Walton  Knolles  succeeded  at  the  death  of  his
father,  and  has  presided  since  then.  He  resides  at
Oatlands,  near  Kinsale,  and  hunted  the  pack  himself,
until    incapacitated    from    doing    so    by    an    injury


THE    SOUTH    UNION    HOUNDS.  2I3

to  his  knee,  sustained  by  a  fall  on  the  road  in  1864.
Since  that  time  the  present  huntsman,  Denis  Mullane,
who  was  formerly  huntsman  to  Lord  Doneraile,  has
carried  the  horn.  Of  late  years,  drafts  were  obtained
from  the  Duhallow,  United  Hunt,  and  Lord  Doneraile's
kennels.  The  pack  at  present  consists  of  twenty-one
couple.  Tuesdays  and  Fridays  are  the  hunting-days.
