Scarteen
![](../I/Scarteen_Hounds_in_the_1930s.jpg.webp)
Scarteen (Irish: An Scairtín, meaning 'small thicket')[3] is a townland in the civil parish of Ballyscaddan, County Limerick,[3] near the village of Knocklong. It 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 of Penal times.[4] The dogs' coat pattern gave the hunt its nickname, the "Black and Tans", later applied derisively to the Royal Irish Constabulary during the Irish War of Independence.[4] Hunt master Thady Ryan (1923–2005) increased the hunt's cachet among visitors from Great Britain and the United States and, later, Continental Europe.[4] Ryan was chef d'equipe of the Irish eventing team at the 1964 and 1968 Olympics.[4] As of 2016 the hunt was mastered by Thady Ryan's son Chris Ryan.[5]
References
- "Contact Us". Scarteen website. Retrieved 16 December 2016.
- "Contact Us". Scarteen website. Retrieved 16 December 2016.
- "An Scairtín/Scarteen". Placenames Database of Ireland. Retrieved 16 December 2016.
- Clavin, Terry (December 2012). "Ryan, Thady". Dictionary of Irish Biography. Cambridge University Press. Retrieved 16 December 2016.
- "Home page". Scarteen website. Retrieved 16 December 2016.