Scarteen ()[1] is a townland in the civil parish of Ballyscaddan, County Limerick,[1] near the village of Knocklong in Ireland.

Fox hunting

Scarteen is best known for the Scarteen Hunt, a fox hunting pack of Kerry Beagles based at Scarteen House, a big house owned since the 1750s by the Ryan family, one of the few Catholic gentry that existed during the period when Ireland had anti-Catholic Penal Laws.[2] The dogs' coat pattern gave the hunt its nickname, the "Black and Tans", later applied derisively to sections of the Royal Irish Constabulary during the Irish War of Independence.[2] Hunt master Thady Ryan (1923–2005) increased the hunt's cachet among visitors from Great Britain and the United States and, later, Continental Europe.[2] Ryan was chef d'equipe of the Irish eventing team at the 1964 and 1968 Summer Olympics.[2] As of 2016 the hunt was mastered by Thady Ryan's son Chris Ryan.[3]

References

  1. ^ "An Scairtín/Scarteen". Placenames Database of Ireland. Retrieved 16 December 2016.
  2. ^ Clavin, Terry (December 2012). "Ryan, Thady". Dictionary of Irish Biography. Cambridge University Press. Retrieved 16 December 2016.
  3. ^ "Home page". Scarteen website. Retrieved 16 December 2016.