IVEAGH 2 November
Iveagh, Co Down
IT was the kind of day you wouldn't turn a fox out of a hen house. What had been a bad day in the Irish Midlands had turned positively apocalyptic by the time we crossed the border. The rain was hopping off the motorway, the wind was doing its best to push my trailer across the road, and my windscreen was under assault from various airborne debris. It was a relief finally to see signs for Banbridge and know that we had almost made it to the opening meet of the Iveagh hounds.
Outside of its immediate environs, the little town of Banbridge is known chiefly for being the home of Rosie McCann from the banks of the Bann, the subject of the well-loved ballad . When we pulled up at George Cromie's farm on the outskirts of the town, there was no sign of Rosie McCann with the nut-brown hair, but Faith Cromie, the Iveagh's hard-working young secretary, made a
