Sean Twomey’s €3m legacy
Not least is his stud farm in Innishannon, Co Cork, an immaculately planned property which is one of most southerly located studs in the country.
He fought hard against the grain of the land to create his dream here, ferrying many tons of soil to cover rocky outcrops on the slopes of Hawthorn Villa Stud.
He had the same tenacity when it came to business, and one of his strong competitors in Bandon now says he no longer has the same urge to get up in the morning, compared to when keeping tabs on Sean, and on the odd occasion getting one over on him was part of being a fellow auctioneer.
It’s his son, John Twomey, who now heads up Sean’s firm, Twomey Crowley, and who will now sell his father’s property.
It shouldn’t be too hard, according to those in the know, as it’s widely regarded as one of the best farms of its kind.
According to joint selling agent, and no stranger to the business himself, Michael Barry: “It’s a top quality stud farm.
“You’d have to be into horses to appreciate the quality and high standard of this property.
“You could eat your dinner off the floor, and the amount of post and rail fencing put up over the last 20 years is astonishing”
There has been considerable interest in the farm already, with rumours that at least one major player in the Cork property and farming world has given it the once-over.
Micheal Barry says the guide price is in the region of €3 million, but that’s just for starters, and it is rumoured that a bid in excess of that has already been made.
As the realisation of one man’s dream, Hawthorn Villa is superb.
The story is told of Sean stopping the car on his way to work in the morning to pick a weed on the driveway.
It comes as a ready-to-go operation, and is being sold because it’s too small for the kind of operation that his son Paddy is hoping to run.
He was listed with Sean as joint breeder of some of the top class thoroughbreds that emanated from Hawthorn Villa Stud and according to horse breeding insiders, he has now bought a farm in Co Tipperary, with the aim of turning it into a Group 1 producer of thoroughbreds.
Sean Twomey worked hard, picking up strong farm sales in his locality, as well as running a strong residential auctioneering practice with his business partner, Paddy Crowley.
He described himself as a blow-in, having been raised in Castleknock, Co Dublin.
Interested in horses from a young age, he brought a sophistication to his work that sprung from his meticulous nature and was always professional, but to those of us who worked on the other side with him, he was warm and friendly and above all, good company.
The auctioneering was his bread and butter, and he didn’t let up, even when quite ill, but the stud farm was his life, along with his family.
And the breeding of top quality livestock was his aim, with good results.
He regularly travelled to Kentucky, the home of the US thoroughbred business, and had connections with the top breeders in the country and in the UK.
Sean also served on the board of the National Stud, and had a degree in Equine Studies from the University of Limerick.
Hawthorn Villa has at its heart the five-bedroomed family home where he lived with Helen and his children, Paddy, Elizabeth, John and Claire.
And this was the house where he left from, mourners walking through the rooms in a well-organised file that lasted all day, with helicopters ferrying in the big names from the sport of kings, while friends and neighbours stewarded the parking in two large fields.
It was all impeccably organised, having been planned that way beforehand by Sean Twomey in his usual painstaking style.
