Irish hunting rider Cathal O’Malley suffered a fatal injury when his horse somersaulted and fell on him during a hunter trials event near Tullamore, in County Offaly, on Sunday.
The Irish Independent said ambulance officers were on the scene within a minute and took O’Malley to the nearby Tullamore hospital, only five minutes away, but medical staff were not able to save him.
The paper quoted Colm O’Brennan, honorary secretary of the Brosna Foxhounds, which ran the event, as saying O’Malley, 45, was a late entry in the last event of the day at Annaharvey farm, as he had taken part in the previous event. He was an experienced rider who hunted with the Galway Blazers.
O’Malley and his wife, Fiona King, run the Old Barracks restaurant in Athenry, which they opened in 2010.
They have a four-year-old son, and King had just given birth to another son two weeks ago, the newspaper reported.
O’Brennan said: ”We are in total shock. We are really dreadfully sorry that such a catastrophe has happened on a wonderful course.
“Nothing of that nature has ever happened before. That particular jump is just a log and it has been there for 10 or 12 years,” he added.
There were more than 150 riders at the event yesterday.
© Irish Independent
