To lose one of Ireland’s great equestrians during a week is sad, but to lose two is devastating.

Both Tommy Brennan and Paul Duffy were giant personalities of our scene, as participants, innovators, leaders and generous volunteers. When Tommy Brennan built the European Championships at Punchestown in 1991, a motto on his last fence from the Book of Kells read: “They will rise again.”

That is surely true of both these men whose lasting legacy to our sport will forever live on.

Tommy arrived on the national scene from his native Kilkenny in the late 1950s. His giant strides across Irish show jumping, eventing and course building ever since is the stuff of legends. He was part of the first civilian show jumping teams, scoring hundreds of wins both here and abroad. He took the 1966 world team championship gold medal in eventing and went on to be a world-renowned course builder. His contribution to the national scene in that field was enormous. He was an Olympian in every possible way.

Also a true innovator was Paul Duffy of Claregalway. He too became a world-class course builder, applying his genius at home and abroad in places like Olympia, Spruce Meadows and the Royal Show in Sydney. For Paul, a need in the sport was just one more opportunity to create a solution as selector, board member, or in his own Duffy’s Equestrian Centre. But that spirit was never more obvious than in his creation of the Irish Showjumping Championships. So innovative and well thought out was the format, it attracted prime time coverage on RTÉ.

It would take pages to do justice to both of these huge personalities, but let it be said that their legacies are written in the hearts of thousands on the Irish horse scene who loved them both dearly.