€2m sought for 100-acre stud near Limerick
Located in the townland of Dooneen adjacent to Limerick Racecourse, the 100-acre property contains three residences, and is within a short distance of the M20 motorway and the Limerick suburbs.
Touchwood Stables is a well-known name in Irish equine circles, particularly amongst National Hunt fans. These stables have been responsible for a number of top-class horses, including top class horses such as Brindisi Breeze.
As selling agent Gordon Kearney points out, the large and multi-faceted holding — described as being of top quality land — is available in various lots, and is currently laid out in ten divisions of pasture. All are well-fenced, sheltered and enjoy a good water supply and private road access.
The land was owned for some time by the late William Stanhope, also known as Lord Harrington.
He also used to own the lands that were to become Limerick Racecourse, and was a major figure in Irish racing. It was under his ownership that the lands of this property were drained some years ago and transformed into their current excellent condition.
“From both an equine and a purely agricultural interest, the land is of excellent quality. This is land that has been well maintained over the last 20 years. You can see it, and people that have walked it can appreciate it. The quality of it is top class”, says Gordon, of the limestone-rich holding.
In total, there are 24 stables on the property.
Two foaling stables and a garage are with the main house. Then there are two stable blocks, each containing five stablesm in the main yard.
Block 1 measures 23m x 4.75m with a one-metre overhang. Block 2 is even bigger, measuring 31.2m x 4.3m with a one-metre overhang.
A four-horse walker of 11 metres in diameter is another facility, and there is a lower barn house with eight stables, measuring 11.2m x 15m.
There is also a hay barn measuring 20.6m x 5.3m.
A 20-metre long horse swimming pool and lunging ring are also part of the impressive equestrian set-up, which includes a rectangular schooling arena, tack room (3.8m x 3.85m), loading bay and an all-weather gallop of six furlongs, including a circle and uphill straight.
Despite this abundance of superb horse-related facilities, the land itself is attracting plenty of attention from farmers in the locality.
“I have a number of people looking purely at the land, and not necessarily the main house. That’s why we’re offering it in two lots. You can buy the house with a couple of acres, and the remaining land, the bungalow and the cottage, along with the riding stables and the arena.
We have both sectors looking at the holding. Its adjacency to the Limerick Racecourse is of obvious interest to someone in the horsy sector, but secondly, the quality of the land is attracting all farming sectors.”
The first lot comprises the main dwelling house with two stables and a garage on 1.5 acres of land.
The main residence has a B3 energy rating. It’s a large (5,080 square feet) property that has seven bedrooms and five bathrooms, with panoramic views over the land.
The bungalow and cottage are both habitable, and currently drawing rental income.
In terms of price, the overall expectation is “close to €2,000,000”, with price tags of €575,000 on the house with 1.5 acres, and €1,425,000 for the bungalow, cottage and 98.5 acres with aforementioned equestrian facilities.
