IT JUST takes one conversation with Abbeyfield Farm’s Daragh O’Neill to see why the business has become the success it is today. It all began when his grandfather bought 240 acres of land in Clane, Co Kildare, in the 1930s and worked it as a sheep and dairy farm.

Daragh’s father, the late Charlie O’Neill rode his whole life from Pony Club with his first pony Blossom, to serving as joint-master of the Kildare Foxhounds for 10 years. Two weeks before Charlie was due to sit his leaving cert, his father suffered a stroke and he had to come home and take over the running of the farm.

As Daragh puts it, “the milk cheque was a safe bet”, so Charlie continued dairy farming from then, but his real passion was horses. “Dad had ridden all his life and alongside the dairy farm, he began with a small livery business. During the 1970s he used to do a lot of hirelings for the local hunts and over time, the livery yard grew. He built a cross-country course in the ‘80s and by the early ‘90s he had began to focus more on the horses.

“I studied Agricultural Science in Warrenstown when I left school. I went on to work in a number of studs including spending three months at Tally-Ho Stud with the O’Callaghans where I learned a huge amount. I was also lucky enough to get a placement in the National Stud and, equipped with all I had learned at various studs in Ireland, in 1989 I travelled to Australia,” Daragh explained.

“What was meant to be a six month trip turned into a stay of 11 years. I managed several stud farms and met my wife Grainne, who is from Wexford, there and returned home in 2000. Dad was 60 years old by then and was looking to take a step back. I was looking to step up so it just happened kind of organically.”

Grainne, Daragh, Susie, Danny, Katie and Harry O'Neill and family out hunting with the Kildares \ Siobhan English Photography

The business continued to expand and offers a range of equestrian and country pursuits. “He had established a really good business while I was away and had started to work with the K Club. We worked well together and continued to expand.

“We introduced clay pigeon shooting, archery and target rifle shooting. We have increased the cross-country course up to 50 fences and built a one and a half mile gallop, both of which have an all-weather surface.”

Family affair

“Sadly Dad passed away nine years ago but it remains a family business. My mother Mary, who has always been a large part of the business still does the books, and my brother Alan and his wife Suzie look after the shooting and archery side of things.

“My wife and my four children are all very involved. Grainne has a wealth of experience, in addition to working in Australian stud farms, she also worked for Coolmore. My eldest, 17-year-old Harry, rode in his first point-to-point last Sunday. He gets involved in the air rifle side of things and works with us in the yard on the weekends. The plan is that he will study Ag Science after his leaving cert.

“My daughters Katie and Susie are in junior cert and first year in school, they are both very involved in ponies, as is my youngest son Danny who is 10. My mother has 14 grandchildren in total and they are almost all involved in the farm in some way.

“We are very blessed to have this facility and the driving force behind it is that we love to give people a chance to experience and enjoy it.

"The way I see it we are just custodians. I’m a big believer in listening to feedback, and always want to hear what people think and how we can make their experience better.

“We are lucky to have the help of some brilliant people. Philip Comerford is fantastic for keeping the place ship shape, Barbara Moriority helps with the riding side of things while Pat Murphy does the gun stuff.

“We have 60 stables in total, about 40 of these are given over to liveries while the remaining are our own horses. We are much more a riding centre then a riding school. We do provide lessons and horses for hire, but I find that more and more, we have repeat customers that move on to possibly leasing a horse and then eventually buying.

“We are always busy, I spend about 15 or 20 hours a week in the saddle and we have a lot of horses to look after, but we are careful not to let it get too big. It is very important to us that people enjoy themselves and enjoy their time here.

“It sounds a bit odd but the lockdown was quite a useful time for us; it gave us a rare chance to stop and examine the way we do things and look for better, more efficient ways to work. Because we could stop and catch our breath, we discovered better ways of doing things and we had a chance to implement them.”

O’Neill does not feel it is fair that the sport horse sector has been shut down again this month, and said running an equestrian business is tough enough without it, referencing a 95% increase in insurance premium this year.

“I’m quite disappointed with the government’s attitude to sport in this second lockdown. I think the blanket type of lockdown we are in now isn’t fair. Each sport should be given the opportunity to show that they can operate safely within guidelines.

“It isn’t fair to tar everyone with the same brush. HRI and the Turf Club (now known as the IHRB) had all their ducks in a row and they could present a decent response when threatened with closure, but everyone else, like the golf or tennis clubs weren’t given that opportunity. Inspections could be set up and if a facility was breaking the rules, then they could be fined, but just shutting them down shows a complete lack of imagination.

“We are very lucky because most of our activities are outdoors and we could implement distancing procedures quite easily. In saying that, we have, like so many others, been affected but it hasn’t hit us too hard.”

Rising insurance

“Running an equestrian business in this country is tough enough. For example my insurance premium increased by 95% this year and we have, thank God, a very good record in that department. But still, despite many attempts to get in touch with them, I was told of the increase in premium right at the last minute, with just 25 hours to go.

“The underwriters know that our hands are tied. I was so annoyed that they had the audacity to inform me of such an increase with such short notice.

“I know we all have our own burdens to bear, and in a way we are lucky. During the summer, in part due to so many staycation goers, I saw a three-fold increase in the amount of people trying to book our facilities. I’ve never had to say no so much before, so that certainly isn’t a bad complaint.

“I’m always conscious that for many of the people that keep their horses here with us that this place serves as a sort of oasis for them, and I never want them to feel like it’s too busy or that they haven’t got access to the facilities we offer.

“This is a family run business and we want the people that come here to feel that and be able to appreciate Abbeyfield just as much as we do.”