Irish hunting's linchpin

David Lalor has been a master since 1992 and is in his second term as IMFHA chairman. Liam Clancy talks to him about his life, and whether the sport is under threat in Ireland

- Liam Clancy

“I’ve had to devote more time to it this year than any other chairman,” says good-humoured David Lalor of his second term as IMFHA chairman

IF any one person could be said to be the face of Irish hunting, it is David Lalor, currently in the middle of his second term as chairman of the Irish Masters of Foxhounds Association (IMFHA).

“I’d say that I’ve had to devote more time to it this year than any other chairman who went before me, due to insurance and Covid and the whole lot,” he tells Horse & Hound.

The strain of the job appears to rest lightly on his broad shoulders. He is a level-headed character, a shrewd judge of both horses and men, with a good-humoured tolerance for human frailties. He is also, of course, a desperately keen hunting man, battering his way across the bank and-ditch country of Co Laois on his big, well-bred horses with a facility that many men half his age cannot match.

The Lalor family has been based at Ballygogue, Co Laois, since 1850, farming their broad acres, producing and selling horses, and of course hunting with the county pack.

Ballygogue House itself is a delightfully cluttered, comfortable property, built in the mid-19th century around a longhouse centuries older. It is a house in which rare books and fine paintings, slumbering gundogs, tarnished trophies and sporting memorabilia all vie for space on equal terms.

David’s path in life was laid out for him early.