I WAS brought up with horses all my life. My parents, Geoffrey and Patricia bred and farmed on a small scale. They still do. My dad worked in the Aga Khan’s in the late eighties, early nineties. I suppose I would have gone in with him as a young fella and mucked out a few. I got into it that way. Although I was born in Tipperary, the family had moved to Kildare when I was just three.

Most of my early memories of being around horses would come from that time in my life. We moved back to my mother’s homeland in Tipperary again a few years later, when I was 10. My parents still live there and have a small stud outside Clonmel. Being quite tall, I was never destined to have a career in the saddle but I did learn how to ride at home.

By the time I went into secondary school, Dad had started working in Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Kiltinan Castle Stud. I ended up getting a weekend/summer job in there. At first, I was just doing general yard duties, cutting grass and strimming. Later, I moved on to working with the horses. I was placed in the mares and foals unit. Over the next three or four years, I worked at the stud any time I wasn’t in school. After doing my Leaving Certificate, I went on to complete the Irish National Stud Breeding Course.

Head stallion man

Once my six months was up, I stayed on at the National Stud. For the first few years, I worked as a yard foreman. In 2010, I took over as head stallion man. Invincible Spirit, a great servant to the stud who only recently retired, was the main stallion at the time. We also had Big Bad Bob and Jeremy for the early part of his stud career.

For three breeding seasons from 2010 to 2012, I travelled to Australia for a six-month stint. I went over with Rakti and Amadeus Wolf. I got badly injured that first year I was out there when I was attacked by a stallion. He bit me on the leg, on my upper thigh and punctured my femoral artery in two places. I was off for the best part of five months. I basically just did light duties towards the end of that season.

Helen Boyce, the breeding manager at the Irish National Stud, was a great support to me during that time. She was constantly in touch during the time I spent in hospital to check in on me. To this day, I really appreciate the effort she made and have great respect for her. Thankfully, I made a full recovery and the whole experience didn’t put me off working with stallions at all.

I returned to the Irish National Stud and went back out to Australia the following two seasons. I remained in the job until February of this year, when I moved on to take over as farm manager at Bert House Stud in Athy. In my new role, I manage staff, liaise with clients and oversee the day-to-day running of the farm. We have a small team of five people working here.

It’s a great little group and we work very well together. At the moment, we have close to 40 horses here at the stud. Those comprise of mares, foals, yearlings and two-year-olds. We also take horses in training for clients when they are on a break. The horses are housed across two different farms and I am responsible for overseeing both.

Breeding winners

My dad still works at Kiltinan Castle Stud. Himself and my mother continue to breed the odd one. Two Rockers, a Grade 2 winner over hurdles for Alan King, was probably the best horse that they bred. I have followed in their footsteps, taking a keen interest in the breeding side of the industry. Coeur Sublime would be the nicest horse I have had to date.

He won his three-year-old maiden on his racecourse debut for Peter Fahey. Later, he went on to win a Grade 2 hurdle at Down Royal for Gordon Elliott. Similar to Mom and Dad, I like to keep it on a small scale. I especially enjoy the sales. I like to have something going each year. A few years ago, Dad bought a yearling filly at the sales on spec. We leased her out to a syndicate for her racing career, of which I had a share in her.

Named Doyen Ta Win, she ended up providing us with some great fun as she won four races for Declan Queally. Unfortunately she picked up an injury after winning her beginners’ chase at Wexford, which forced her retirement. She came back to us as a broodmare and was covered by Arctic Cosmos shortly after. She has just produced a lovely bay colt for us which we are all delighted about.

Earlier this month, I was named as one of the winners of the 2025 Godolphin Thoroughbred Industry Employee Awards. With so many great people working within the industry, it was an honour to even be considered. In a job that often requires long and unconventional working hours, I couldn’t do it without the help of my family. My wife Sarah (Ross), a vet at the Irish Equine Centre, and our two young kids Callum and Olivia are a great support.

Paul was in conversation with John O’Riordan.