IN 1973, Jane Kennedy had a vision - to establish a riding school that would serve people in Co Wicklow and south Dublin. From humble beginnings, the Killiney native has since nurtured Brennanstown Riding School to become one of the biggest and most successful equestrian establishments in Ireland.
Situated just off the busy N11 at Kilmacanogue, and a stone’s throw from Bray, it has stood the test of time. Starting out with just a little bit of land, the farm now stands on some 90 acres.
Attracting dozens of regular students for riding lessons each week, it also has a huge appeal with tourists seeking leisurely trail rides to the nearby Little Sugarloaf Mountain. In addition, it operates a busy livery yard, all of which are overseen by Jane and her daughter, event rider Louise Bloomer.
As Jane approaches her 80th birthday this year, while showing no signs of slowing down, she reflects on the early days teaching and competing and how the Brennanstown story evolved.
She recalls how her love for horses began as a child. “I did not come from a horsey family, but at a very young age I fell in love with a cart horse called Paddy, who was in a small paddock beside our house. I used to make a headcollar out of rope and, with a neighbour, we used to jump up on him and lead him around and watch over him. In my head I believed he was mine.”
Jane Kennedy competing Random Light at Punchestown in 1972
While attending school, Jane befriended Anna Longdon, who would offer her another opportunity. “She would ride her pony, and I would ride a donkey called Periwinkle. I even took him hunting one day and did a few minor show jumping competitions on him. He thought he was a pony.”
Despite having no ponies at home at the time, Jane’s interest never wavered. “When I was at school, I sat beside Susan Lanigan-O’Keeffe. Prior to her death, she ran Suma Stud with Marily Power. Susan introduced me to her mother, Dan, who really got me going and organised various pony loans for me.”
Days out with the Bray Hunt in the winter were followed by Pony Club camps in the summer at Kilruddery. Having spent time on this wonderful estate back then, Jane never envisaged living beside it years later and being kindly allowed to utilise the grounds.
“When I was about 10 years of age, Dan (Lanigan-O’Keeffe) introduced me to Colonel Bellingham, who lived in Mullingar. He loaned me a 12.2hh pony whom I had for a while. One year I hacked it to the RDS.”
Jane also credits Dan for introducing her to Pam Stokes. “Pam got me the loan of a chesnut pony called Roy, who was previously owned by Helen Beatty. I had great fun on him, and even jumped him in the 14.2hh competition at the Galloping Green Show. Pam gave me great encouragement when I first started running the riding school and while I aspired to be a successful event rider.”
Focusing on education
When Jane was 15, her parents called a halt to her riding, much to her disappointment. “They wouldn’t let me keep a pony any longer. They wanted me to study. Although I got my Leaving Certificate, I really wasn’t interested in college. I just wanted to do something with horses. My father then sent me off to secretarial school for a year.”
After a two-year stint working in France, Jane returned home to Ireland, where her interest in horses was quickly reignited. By now, she was 20 and keen to get back riding. One of her first horses was the part-Arab gelding Iridescent, whom she bought herself for £400.
To finance competitions, she and her friend Jean Morton came up with a grand idea - to teach people to ride.
“It was 1967 when Jean and I started in Saville Park Road, Dalkey. It was a paddock at the bottom of her garden. We thought we would do it for one summer.”
They then moved to a premises down the road at Barnhill House. “That was in a sad state of repair, but we remained there for one winter.” Another move was then on the cards. “We heard that Watson’s Nurseries (off Rochestown Avenue) had been sold to the Gallagher Group for development. In the meantime, I was able to sign a three-year lease and rent it for £10 a year.
“At that stage, we had about 12 animals and we had one person to help us. The yard consisted of a few stables, but lots of sheds, so we had to improvise a bit. There was also 35 acres of land for future development.”
With some extra cash at their disposal, Jane and Jean continued to compete with success. “Jean had Zuleika (Zula), a lovely chesnut mare, and I had Iridescent. I had many successes in hunter trials and even came second in the Member’s Race at the Bray Hunt Point-to-Point.”
When the lease was up after three years, they managed to rent a yard at Brennanstown House in Cabinteely. “However, there was only one large field included so, once again, I had to find land where we could take rides out. This was at nearby Lehaunstown, courtesy of Sir John Galvin.”
It was also around this time that Jane’s eventing career took off. “I was getting show jumping lessons on Iridescent with Iris Kellett. She did not think much of him and offered to lend me Random Light, who started me on the eventing road.”
Together they had many successes, including winning the Gowran Grange Trophy at the Punchestown three-day event in 1972 and competing on the Irish team in the UK, where they placed eighth individually. “When Random Light was offered for sale, I was given first refusal. Iris had put a price on him from the very start, which she honoured, even though he had greatly increased in value.”
Iris and Jane also worked together to develop the Association of Irish Riding Establishments in 1974. Many years later, Jane was the chairman for 12 years and now her daughter Louise is on the council of AIRE. Jane is the only surviving founding member.
Going soloB>
An aerial view of Brennanstown taken in 2013
While they were in Cabinteely, Jane and Jean decided to go their separate ways. “Jean’s interests lay more with liveries rather than the riding school, and she moved up to Springfield, where Carrickmines Equestrian Centre is now located. I remained at Brennanstown House for a total of three years, and then the time came to move again.”
As it happened, one of Jane’s clients was friendly with the eccentric property developer Ernest Ottewell, who had just bought Hollybrook House in Kilmacanogue. “One day in 1973, I came out to see him and the yard. The film Zardoz was being shot here at the time and Sean Connery was sitting on a stool outside what is now the office. I remember he was wearing very few clothes!
“I initially rented the premises, and then purchased some land, bit by bit, as funds became available. In 1976, I approached my bank manager for a loan as the whole place was up for sale for £120,000. Unfortunately, he would only lend me £25,000, with which I bought the gate lodge and top yard. We also had access to a 12-acre field, which we were able to use for lessons for the more experienced riders and students.”
A protected building, Hollybrook House was divided into five separate residences in the 1970s. What was once known as the Orangery is Jane Kennedy’s family home. She decided to adopt the Brennanstown name from her days in Cabinteely and it is here that the story of Brennanstown Riding School really begins.
When the top lands at Hollybrook were offered to Jane and her husband, Brian Bloomer, by the Brabazon family, she jumped at the opportunity to expand once more. “This gave us access to our lovely riding out facilities and even beyond Hollybrook into the Kilruddery Estate by kind permission of the Earl of Meath.”
Jane and Brian, who was one of the veterinary surgeons attending horses in the yard at the time, married in 1978. They went on to have four children, Brian (46), John (45), Gerald (43) and Louise (41). Brian Snr sadly died in 2004.
Despite the demands of a young family, Jane continued to develop Brennanstown into the 1980s. “Our indoor school was built in 1981, by Noel C. Duggan of Millstreet fame. This made a huge difference and meant that we could be confident that classes could go ahead no matter what the weather. There was a large demand for lessons and ride-outs, so the business grew steadily.”
In addition to riding, Brennanstown now offers a wide range of activities and has been hosting BHS exams for many years. “We started off by holding Stage 1 and quickly moved on to Stage 2 and 3 and the teaching exam, and then Stage 4 and Intermediate Teaching (now Stage 4 Coach). In fact, many people involved in AIRE and the BHS spent some time at Brennanstown going back through the years, including Robert Pickles, now a Fellow of the BHS.”
Brennanstown is also home of Hollybrook Riding Club, of which Hilary MacHugh was one of the founding members. Hilary has been hugely instrumental to Brennanstown’s success for many, many years and is also a director.
For over 30 years, Jane has kindly loaned the riding school ponies free of charge to the Riding for the Disabled group from the Marino Clinic in Bray.
Jane Kennedy and her daughter Louise at home at Brennanstown
Following family footsteps
With horses such a big part of Jane and Brian’s life together, it was only natural that their children would take an interest too. They had huge success, especially in working hunter ponies. Jane recalls a time when she and Brian headed to shows such as Newark, Peterborough, Hickstead and even Wembley in the UK, with six ponies and four children in tow.
Among those ponies were Cedarfarm Tamara, with whom Louise won the Mini Supreme Championship at Peterborough, and Mister Bobsleigh, who competed and did well at Wembley.
Fast forward to adulthood, and Louise now runs the business with her mother. However, her three brothers did work at Brennanstown at various times. Jane sums it up candidly.
“It is a regret that, in a family business, the boys found they could not work with their mother, who is considered a control freak. I’m glad to say that I now only have one boss!”
John, who evented for a while in the 1990s, currently runs a group of agencies for NFU Mutual Insurance Society in the UK. He has kept an interest in horses through the insurance business, through which he looks after a number of yards and private individuals’ horses. They are also involved in the sponsorship of various equestrian events in the UK.
Brian lives between Ireland and the UK and is an agent for Hopoti, an online platform for riding centres worldwide. He also has a travel business, being an agent for travel counsellors in Ireland and England.
Gerald evented to four-star level with horses such as Calliaghstown Flight, who was bred by the late Grainne Sugars. He has also competed in pure dressage to Intermediare 1 level. As a young rider, he gained invaluable experience with such mentors as Niall Quirk and Anna Merveldt, and he won a scholarship to train at Ballaseyr Stud on the Isle of Man. He later spent time with Ingrid Klimke and Carl Hester, and represented Ireland in both dressage and eventing at junior and young rider European Championship level.
Gerald is now a HSI Level 3 coach in both dressage and eventing and runs clinics from his home, Bishopsland Stud in Kilcock, and countrywide. Recently married to his long-time partner, equine veterinarian JP King, he was dressage coach to the Irish young rider eventing team in 2025 and, prior to that, to the junior team. He has two nice young dressage horses to compete this year.
Louise has continued to ride and compete ever since she made her debut in lead rein at the RDS at the age of three. While in her 20s, she spent two years with William Fox-Pitt. Today, she is a successful event rider at four-star level.
One of Louise’s first eventing ponies was Master Houdini. He came through Pam Gillespie and took Louise to the European Pony Championships. Then came horses such as Hugginstown, Innishannon On Air, Fernhill Frankie and Hollybrook High In The Sky, one of several to boast the ‘Hollybrook’ prefix over the years. Two others, namely Hollybrook High Maintenance and Hollybrook Pipsqueak, are now part of a breeding programme there.
In 2008, Louise formed a wonderful partnership with loyal owner Jinnie Webb. Together they have had some great days with horses, such as the Go For Gold graduate Shannondale Icarus, who competed to four-star level, and his full-brother Shannondale Levi. More recently, they have had wins with the up-and-coming September Moon (aka Harvey) and, last November, Jinnie made another purchase from the GFG Sale, this time a three-year-old by Livello, who will be produced by Louise this coming season.
Louise’s event horses take pride of place at Brennanstown and occupy one of several yards that hold some 55 stables, also accommodating the riding school and liveries. Many of these liveries are riding club members and aspiring teenage riders, mostly aiming at eventing.
Gerald Bloomer and Ready to Shine at Marlton Stud \ Louise O'Brien Photography
Fighting forward
Down through the years, Brennanstown has evolved into a tremendous centre for horse enthusiasts, but not without some roadblocks. Nearby developments, rising costs and insurance were often factors, but Jane fought on and won, for which she should be so proud.
“Over the years, we have been very lucky in the way the business has developed, thanks to our location and catchment area. We have managed to build up contacts with schools, tour operators, cruise ships and local hotels, and this secured us our contracts for providing riding for these groups and the tourists visiting Wicklow.
“We also have been very lucky with great staff, and we have access to some of the most beautiful riding trails so close to Dublin, for which we are very grateful to the Earl of Meath and the Brabazon family,” she concluded.