I see Coolmore Stud has made a number of land purchases in recent weeks. It was the mystery buyer of the lovely Ravensdale House between Leixlip and Maynooth in Co Kildare two weeks ago, paying auctioneer Willie Coonan a cool €4.75m for the period house and 223 acres of good land. Currently in tillage and grazing, the farm will be developed into a stud.

Ravensdale was, of course, previously owned by the Bruton family. While nationally the family is best known for its political involvement, having given us a Taoiseach in John Bruton and the current Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, Richard, many readers would have been just as familiar with their father, Joe, who wrote a column for many years in the Irish Farmers Journal. He was involved in the farmers’ rights campaign. Joe spent part of his childhood in Ravensdale.

Coolmore and its interests have also made purchases in recent months in Tipperary, Dublin and Meath. The horse stud is turning into the “United States of Coolmore”, one Tipperary farmer said to The Dealer.