Horses for courses

ONE of the most southerly stud farms in the country, Hawthorn Villa Stud, in the rich farming hinterland between Cork and Bandon, is up for sale.

Developed over a 20-year period as a passion by the late Sean Twomey who was on the board of the National Stud, the residential stud farm on 75 south-facing 'warm acres' above Innishannon is a pristine operation.

It is set to attract an elite interest from the city, from West Cork professionals, from farmers looking for a special bit of property - and livestock breeders and developers with a passion for horses in particular.

Hawthorn Villa is more than a farm, and a visit confirms its reputation as a smoothly-run, immaculately-kept, imaginatively-conceived and successful stud: the horse Tagula, winner of the Prix Morny, was one of the many successful stallions bred here and which helped build its reputation. Recent yearling sales in Newmarket saw progeny sell for up to 250,000 guineas.

The farm was bought in a raw state with a poor house back in 1983 by Sean Twomey, a partner in the Bandon auctioneering business Twomey Crowley. He worked consistently to develop the property, right up to the time of his death last year, at a young 52 years of age, leaving two sons and two daughters. His widow Helen continues to run her fashion business, Crowley Calnan, in Bandon.

Ironically, one of the last tasks he set himself for the farm was the installation of new, electronically controlled entrance gates proudly bearing the stud farm's name.

In the intervening years, he also rebuilt and extended the family home so it now has almost 3,000 sq ft of space, five bedrooms, kitchen with Aga and south-facing reception rooms overlooking post and railed paddocks with horses and foals grazing in full view.

The full holding here has a tarmac central avenue, beech hedging, post and rail paddocks, while the old farm yard is paved and re-worked as a main yard, with old well and pump in the centre as a feature. It has nine loose boxes ranged around it.

There's a further nine boxes in an American-style barn, another stable block in a building constructed to house standards, with floor and wall insulation, mare and foal handling units, a stone-fronted office with tack room, wine cellar and stores, a staff apartment, lunging ring, automatic exerciser and farm yard with slatted shed for 50 cattle and new steel barn.

Completing the selection of quality buildings is a stone-fronted four-car garage with four individually controlled electric doors, store building and a tennis court.

Hawthorn Villa - named after an earlier period house shown on old maps - is on attractively-wooded pasture two miles from Innishannon and Bandon, with Cork airport and Kinsale about a 15 minute drive away.

Expected to sell for over €3 million, the stud farm's agent is John Crowley, who has taken on the reins of his father's family firm Twomey Crowley, selling jointly with Michael Barry of Dick Barry Property Partners in Fermoy.