I’m from a village called Inistioge in Co Kilkenny. It was a little off the beaten track back then but the lovely thing was, when they filmed ‘Circle of Friends’, they had to take down all the overhead wires and put them underground.

My dad, Patrick Stephens, was a vet. When dad started in Trinity studying veterinary, he was also an amateur National Hunt jockey and he used to make a few bob that way to pay his way through college. World War II broke out when he was in the middle of his studies. And of course being a horseman, he joined up with the cavalry. He ended up with tanks!

After he survived WWII – he was a Captain in El Alamein with Montgomery – Dad went back to Trinity and finished his course. He went to Peterborough for two years, then came back and set up in Inistioge, where he was always known anecdotally as ‘the Captain’. His main client was the McCalmonts in Mount Juliet. He looked after the hunters, hounds and cattle for years.

There was one donkey at home named Billy, I probably got up on him before I could walk, then there were other ponies and old horses to ride. We used to hunt with the Kilkenny Hunt, the hounds were kept at the back of Mount Juliet.

Yes, I was tempted to follow in my father’s footsteps. Often I went out with dad at night when there was those late calls if there was a cow down. Then I decided to study medicine instead.

There were less places and more competition. I did all my training in Ireland at the Royal College of Surgeons in Dublin, then went over to England for a year. In ’86, there was another recession and there was an embargo on recruiting. I was fully trained but there were no jobs or no replacements for people that were retiring.

International experience

I got a job in the University of Hong Kong, in Paediatric Orthopaedics and then I went to Cincinnati, Ohio, the first Irishman to train in ankle and foot surgery. Then I came back in 1989 when the embargo was lifted and there was a job going in the Mater, Cappagh and Temple Street. I’d been offered in San Antonio. I had even put a deposit on a house there but then got that job in Dublin. I’m very happy that I’m back in Ireland.

Hong Kong was totally different, an incredible work ethic. You always worked five and a half days a week with very high standards demanded of the doctors. It was a wonderful experience, it hasn’t changed much since it was handed back to China. I still go back there regularly to teach.

Really you wouldn’t do the job, putting in the extra unpaid hours, unless you love it. Unfortunately the health service depends on that and when it’s used and abused, people get disillusioned. I love it. I think the system, generally speaking, once you get into hospital, is top quality. The thing is how to get in. There are too many managers in the HSE and there needs to be more coalface workers.

Equestrian interest

Both my wife Juliet and I were Riding Club members and keep our horses with Taylor Vard, he’s an assistant chef d’equipe to Rodrigo Pessoa. When we moved to a couple of acres in Kiltiernan, we got the first donkey, Beechnuts, from Fintan Flannelly as a companion for the pony. When the pony died, we got another donkey to keep her company and that was April.

Lily arrived later and is a classic grey donkey, we’re not too sure about April’s breeding but every-body thinks she’s a Spanish donkey. She’s a lovely big pet, an absolute character and loves the attention.

Irish Donkey Society

I became involved with the Irish Donkey Society thanks to James Wyse. We were both fundraising for Cappagh Hospital. Norma Cooke was summonsed – Norma is Miss Donkey - and she said ‘That’s the best donkey in Ireland’ when she saw April. I showed April in the donkey class at Kilmacanogue one year, the judge couldn’t keep his eyes off her and we won!

We did our first display at the RDS two years ago to mark the 1916 commemoration and again this year on the Sunday of the Horse Show for the centenary of the end of World War I. The uniform is only a costume one, but I added details, like the Red Cross armband and a proper Sam Browne belt. The boots I had on were Dad’s that he wore in El Alamein with the 9th Lancers Cavalry Division.

I had a patient up from The Rower, which is near Inistioge, who came to see me in the Mater Private Hospital. He was a farmer and I mentioned dad was a vet and he asked ‘What was his name?’ I said ‘Patrick Stephens’, he thought about it and replied ‘No, I can’t remember that vet’. And I said ‘Was it the Captain?’ “Yes! That’s the man, he was a great vet!’”.

The World War I seminar (last Saturday at Dublin Port) was great, some really interesting lectures. I thought James Wyse gave a great talk on the role played by horses, mules and donkeys in war and how many of them died on the battlefield.

They’ve brought out a purple poppy recently in remembrance of the animals killed in the wars. Wearing a poppy was frowned upon in the Republic but now the army and navy have come together to bring out a badge with a shamrock and in the middle of it is a poppy, to commemorate the Irish who fought in all the wars.

Professor Michael Stephens was in conversation with Susan Finnerty.