Artist: William A. Nesfield (1793-1881).
Gouache on paper
c. 68 x 96 cm
Framed: c. 101 x 127 cm
Stag Hunting upon Killarney’s Lakes was an established past time among the local ascendancy at least as early as 1725. For, in August of that year, Valentine Browne 3rd Viscount Kenmare (c. 1694-1736) instructed O Sullevane More (sic) to meet him ‘with a boat at Ross to go stag hunting.’ The sport involved the hunting of a stag by a pack of hounds until it was driven down into the water. The animal was then captured by throwing a rope around it antlers. The ear of the stag was sometimes nicked to indicate that the animal had been captured and it was then often released. https://www.muckrosshouseresearchlibrary.ie/pdf/newsletters/newsletter23.pdf