Kilfrush Stud has been sold to an equestrian buyer for an undisclosed sum, Clive Kavanagh of Jordan Town and Country Estate Agents confirmed to Irish Country Living.

The property was brought to auction on 24 July, guided at €5.5m. It is reported that the property was withdrawn from sale when bidding stalled at €6.1m.

There are unconfirmed reports circulating in the racing world that the buyer is from continental Europe and will keep the property for thoroughbred breeding purposes.

Kilfrush Stud, located at Knocklong, Co Limerick, includes 73 boxes across two yards, 286ac of limestone land, an 11,000sq ft residence built in 1835 and 14,900sq ft of accommodation in the guest and leisure wing located beside the main residence

John A Mulcahy, who supported American President Richard Nixon’s presidential bid in 1968, bought the farm in 1969 from the original owners of Kilfrush Estate, the Gubbins family.

Mulcahy used the farm as a dairy enterprise before it was converted to a stud farm by Paris-based businessman Jean Pierre Binet in 1978.

It was most recently owned by Qatari businessman Mubarak al-Naemi. He bought the property in 2013, in what was a highly publicised sale at the time.

The purchase came at a time when there was a major influx of Qatari investment in bloodstock in the Ireland, the UK and across Europe.

The property also includes a four-bedroom gate lodge, a manager’s house, two staff houses and an apartment adjoining the stud office.

Over the course of its time as a stud farm, the enterprise has produced over 80 Group and Listed winners including Last Tycoon, No Pass No Sale, Caerlina, Valentine Waltz, Immortal Verse and many more.

Read more

340ac Fortgranite estate sold