Scarteen

Scarteen (An Scairtín — Irish for '"the small thicket"'[2]) is a townland in the civil parish of Ballyscaddan, County Limerick,[2] 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.[3] The dogs' coat pattern gave the hunt its nickname, the "Black and Tans", later applied derisively to the Royal Irish Constabulary Special Reserve during the Irish War of Independence.[3] Hunt master Thady Ryan (1923–2005) increased the hunt's cachet among visitors from Great Britain and the United States and, later, Continental Europe.[3] Ryan was chef d'equipe of the Irish eventing team at the 1964 and 1968 Olympics.[3] As of 2016 the hunt is mastered by Thady's son Chris Ryan.[4]

Scarteen Hunt hounds in the 1930s