I’M from a small village called Barnacogue in the west of Ireland. My wife Bernie and I purchased our first Irish Draught - Holy River (Inisfree The Holy Grail - Inisfree Snowy River, by Crannagh Hero) - in 2016 from the late Eddie Murphy.
In 2017, we covered Holy River with the RID stallion Clonakilty Hero, and that’s where our Irish Draught story began. In 2018, we welcomed Ringrove Paddys Hero, a lovely colt foal who gave us many great days in the show ring. At the end of the year, he won the All-Ireland colt foal final in Ballinasloe and then went overall champion.
That same year, we bought a filly foal - Ringrove Farmers Lady, by Tors Gentleman Farmer and out of a Castana dam - at Cavan sales and had many great results with her as a yearling. She bred us three foals, but the pick of the bunch was her filly in 2023, who went unbeaten all season long.
By Inisfree The Holy Grail, this filly - Goldsmithcountry Voila - won the Irish Draught filly foal class at the RDS and was then champion foal, won the Western Region foal championship in Oughterard, and she then won the All-Ireland filly foal final in Ballinasloe.
In 2019, Holy River bred us another lovely filly foal by Clonakilty Hero, who had many champion foals and won the mare and foal all-Ireland in Bonniconlon.
In 2020, she yet again had another filly foal, this time by Clonakilty Hero. Our Midnight Hero didn’t get to see the show ring due to Covid, but we kept her as a future broodmare.
In 2021, Holy River had a colt foal by Clonakilty Hero. Covid was still around, but we managed to get him to the Irish Draught Horse Breeders’ Association (IDHBA) national show in Punchestown. And then, the next year, her Gortfree Hero colt arrived - Barnacogue Hero - who is now a Class 1 stallion after Cavan this year.
As a foal, Barnacogue Hero won many foal championships during the show season. The highlight was winning the colt class in the RDS, where he went on to become the champion Irish Draught foal.
In 2023, we had another colt foal by Gortfree Hero. He was in the ribbons all year, as well as being the champion foal in Athlone and Crossmolina shows. He won the Horse Sport Ireland (HSI) foal class in Roscommon and went supreme champion foal of the show. Then to finish the year, he was reserve colt foal at the All-Ireland final in Ballinasloe. He was later sold to a buyer in Wexford.
In 2025, we welcomed another colt foal by Tors Gentleman Farmer, and he had a good show season. He and his mother, Holy River, started the year off by winning at their first three shows and both of them stood champion Irish Draught mare and foal at Longford Show.
Last year, Holy River was awarded a Gold Merit for her progeny’s successes. She really is our foundation mare and we can’t wait to start the 2026 season. We have a lovely yearling filly by Tors Gentleman Farmer out of Holy River’s Clonakilty Hero daughter.
Barnacogue Hero at the 2026 Cavan Stallion Inspections \ Laurence Dunne jumpinaction
1. Congratulations, you bred Barnacogue Hero, another of the Class 1 Irish Draught stallions at Cavan. Tell us more about him?
He was a smashing foal. He’s full of quality and is a great mover. As mentioned above, he was the champion foal at the RDS. He won his first three shows, was champion foal at Athlone Show and reserve in the All-Ireland colt foal class in Ballinasloe.
2. Proudest breeder moment?
It would have to be winning the foal championship twice at the RDS with a colt and filly from different mares; as well as winning my first All-Ireland and supreme foal in 2018.
3. Your template for an Irish Draught?
Well, I always look for a horse with plenty of quality, good limbs, a good mover, good topline and a nice short cannon bone.
4. Your hopes for the future of the Irish Draught breed?
My hope is that we continue to keep producing good Irish Draught mares and stallions to keep the traditional bloodlines of the Irish Draught. I would also like if we could get more young people involved with the Irish Draught, because the next generation will be the future, so we should encourage them more and keep the young handlers classes going, for example.
5. That famous horse you’d like to have bred?
The horse that I would have liked to have bred is the three-time Dublin champion Gortfree Hero (see Horse of a Lifetime page 88-89). I think he has lovely movement and he’s a good cross for Irish Draught mares and half-bred mares, which is showing through in his offspring.
6. Prefixes - your thoughts?
Our prefixes are Barnacogue and Ring Grove, where I was born and we’re only three miles from Knock Airport. This is where all our Irish Draughts are produced.
7. It takes a team - who’s on yours?
It’s a family effort. Myself, Dominic and Amy do all the washing and leading of the foals before the shows and my wife does all the plaiting and grooming. My mother makes sure that all the suits are cleaned and ready for every weekend and the boss man (Dad) comes and checks that everything is in order.
We also have lots of neighbours and other family members who are all willing to lend a hand whenever we need it.
8. Breeding horses, would you do it all over again?
Yes, I would do it all over again. My favourite time of the year is waiting for the mares to foal, picking the next stallion for them and watching the foals grow, and mature, hoping that they can go on and make a name for themselves.
9. Biggest challenges facing breeders?
My biggest challenge is to keep producing good foals in the current situation with diesel and horse feed prices.
I suppose keeping some of the best Irish Draught bloodlines in Ireland is too, and trying to get more people involved, especially the younger breeders.
10. Something you’d like to see in the Irish Draught world?
I think we should honour the greats of the Irish Draught breed, like Sea Crest, a Grade A show jumper; also King Of Diamonds, known as one of the pillars of the breed.
He was a legendary stallion with numerous approved sons, and we should also recognise any of the up-and-coming stallions with the same potential to stamp their names, so they get the best opportunities during their lifetimes.