A Co Kildare stud farm owned by the same family since 1880 goes for sale next month. Naas auctioneer Colm McEvoy expects to secure in excess of £2 million (2.54m) for Cadamstown House Stud and 296 acres at Moyvalley when it is auctioned on July 10th. It is located less than four miles off the N4 between Enfield and Kinnegad, near Broadford.
Cadamstown has changed little over the years. The old style farm is as rustic as it has always been but the house and yard have become quite rundown as the last member of the Bourke family to live there, 79-year-old Madeline, prepares to move into a modern bungalow in a neighbouring village.
One of the unique features of the farm is that it has been in permanent pasture for virtually all of the 120 years since it was bought by her grandfather, Charles Bourke. "This is unspoiled virgin land, one of the very few organic farms around," says Colm Evoy. "The horse breeders would love this place because it has never seen fertilisers ... a rare thing these days when many farms are polluted with fertilisers." The reason for this is that the Bourke family had no interest in tillage farming, preferring the more genteel lifestyle of horse breeding and cattle fattening. Madeline says that her mother did not want to see any of her six sons and two daughters leaving the farm and marrying. Only one of them made the break, emigrating to America where he died some years ago. All six sons are now dead.
The Bourke family name is linked to many great horses they bred over the years - brood mares like Panaview, daughter of the Epsom Derby runner-up and the Irish Derby winner Panaslipper; her first two foals, Black Satin and Linacre, both of whom won the Irish 1,000 guineas; Ragpan, who finished second in the Irish Derby; Panamint who won the Adelaide Cup in Australia and, on the National Hunt side, Rondetto, winner of the National Hunt Chase at Cheltenham. There were others, all of them vividly remembered by a family whose successes gave them an entree into a world that acknowledged their achievements.
Cadamstown Stud has probably run its course. Even if it is bought by a bloodstock breeder, it will undoubtedly be redeveloped to provide modern facilities. The house is also in need of a fairly comprehensive refurbishment. There are fine reception rooms on either side of the entrance hall, both with attractive marble fireplaces. Most of the six bedrooms are located in a two storey extension, probably built in the 1960s.
The kitchen has an Aga but like the rest of the house it is in need of upgrading. The original driveway to the house through old trees is seldom used; the family and their visitors now mainly use the stud entrance which runs through the two yards with their 16 loose boxes and range of sheds.
Another farm a few miles away with no house or yard sold recently for £7,500 (9500) an acre. Colm McEvoy hopes to do somewhat better with Cadamstown, which will be sold in either one or two lots. Purchasers likely to be interested in it are bloodstock breeders, tillage farmers and the ever increasing number of farmers who want to put money back into land after selling their own holdings for development or new roads.
