A professional huntsman was killed by a stag on Tuesday.
It is understood Ger Withers died when he was attacked while feeding a stag at at the Duhallow hunt kennels in Liscarroll, north Cork.
A married man in his 40s, Mr Withers had three young children.
The alarm was raised when he did not return home. He was found unresponsive on the ground at the kennels.
Pat Fleming, chairman of the Duhallow Hunt, said Mr Withers was employed at the kennels and was doing his job when tragedy stuck.
“He was a great husband and a professional man. He did a great job. You couldn’t have had better than Ger. I spoke to him a few times a week and we would talk about his beloved kids. We never had a cross word in 20 years and I don’t think we would have had in another 20. We are devastated.”
His friend, Catherine Power, said he was a wonderful person who would be sorely missed by all those who knew him.
“A wonderful father and huntsman. He was a young man who has left behind a very good legacy in the hunting fraternity. The whole country is in shock. It happened out of the blue. You can’t anticipate something like this happening. We are devastated. We have lost a good man and a good huntsman,” she said.
Gardaí and paramedics attended the scene and Mr Withers’s remains were removed to the mortuary at Cork University Hospital. The Health and Safety Authority was investigating the death, which is being treated as a tragic accident.
Mr Withers was regarded as a expert huntsman and houndman who hunted with Old English Hounds. He had hunted his pack of English hounds for 14 seasons.