My three passions are Limerick hurling, horse racing and Cragbeg, our farm at home. All of my passions stemmed from and developed from being at home, so that is the best way of summing things up.
Cragbeg itself is a dairy farm and there is plenty to be done there. It is easy to get roped into a job. I have to spend time at home every week or else I’m not the better of it.
Simon Says
Most of the time, I am caring for my horse Simon. He is 30 years old, so nearly as old as myself. We are the best of pals. I got him when I was a teenager, so I grew up with him. There is so much to be done to look after him. Having a horse is a great education really. There is the horse riding but there is so much more in terms of care.
He’s going strong, he really is a hardy horse, although I don’t ride him anymore. We’ve had our ups and downs; he definitely wasn’t the most docile of animals but we are all the stronger for it. He was the love of my life – well, he was the original love of my life really!
Elizabeth Kennedy and Simon. \ Odhran Ducie
It’s funny, I suppose I talk about him a lot and there have been moments of confusion when people didn’t realise Simon was a horse and not a human. Last year I got married to Barry. In work before the wedding, someone asked me if Simon had his suit for the big day and I was thinking ‘that’s a bit much now, even I wouldn’t be going that far even for Simon.’ I obviously hadn’t been talking about Barry as much as Simon!
We live in Glin, west Limerick, on the border with Kerry. It is famous for the castle and it is a charming place to call home. Barry is from Ballybunion and it is the half-way point between my home and his, so that is our compromise. We are both total home-birds.
It’s handy as well because my work is based in Listowel. I am an occupational therapist on the north Kerry team, so I work with children with complex disability needs between the ages of zero to 18.
Elizabeth Kennedy and Simon. \ Odhran Ducie
These days I am up at home most evenings feeding calves. I just love getting stuck in.
I suppose it’s easy for me to say that because I don’t have to do it every single day; it is quite novel. I’m not the one up calving during the night. So, it is nice to be able to give them a helping hand.
If there are no jobs for me, I’ll grab the binoculars and bring the dogs up the fields. We have these really cool buzzards at the moment and plenty of hawks. They’re just lovely to watch. I started paying attention to them when I used to be up the fields with Simon. It is lovely out in the peace and quiet of the fields, watching the birds gliding in the sky.
My dad always had a few race horses. We are the only two in the family who like racing or horses. We’re both dreamers. We go to point-to-points and Limerick racecourse.
Getting starstruck
I love following a horse, and at the races down by the rails, the sound of the hooves as they pass by. It’s so nice to experience that – you can’t feel that when watching on the telly.
A friend of dad’s had a good racehorse and we went to Aintree with him. I think that’s what happened me; dreaming of having a racehorse that’d be good enough to contend with the big boys. You see these underdog stories every now and then and we hold onto the dream that one of our racehorses would take on the best of them.
Elizabeth Kennedy and Simon. \ Odhran Ducie
Cragbeg Jess is our racehorse and hopefully she will be going to a point-to-point soon. Dad named her after Jess, our sheepdog. It’s a bit gas and I had nothing got to do with it. Even though we have zero evidence, we are still hoping she might give us a trip to Cheltenham one day.
This year for the Cheltenham festival I’ve my annual leave booked. Usually, I have to work for one day and miss the action but this year I am managing to be off for all of it.
Barry is brilliant, he is a sport lover but he wasn’t into the racing before he met me. Now he is happy to head off for the day to the races or watch them on the telly. We’ve been to Cheltenham once together and hopefully we’ll go again.
Elizabeth Kennedy and Simon. \ Odhran Ducie
I‘ve been a few times. It’s such a buzz and I get starstruck watching the horses go around the parade ring. I could be thinking for months and months about how a race will go and in 10 minutes it could all change. How quickly it is all over, how things change, so long as everybody stays safe. I adore the unpredictability of the jumps racing – it would definitely be my favourite type of racing.”
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My three passions are Limerick hurling, horse racing and Cragbeg, our farm at home. All of my passions stemmed from and developed from being at home, so that is the best way of summing things up.
Cragbeg itself is a dairy farm and there is plenty to be done there. It is easy to get roped into a job. I have to spend time at home every week or else I’m not the better of it.
Simon Says
Most of the time, I am caring for my horse Simon. He is 30 years old, so nearly as old as myself. We are the best of pals. I got him when I was a teenager, so I grew up with him. There is so much to be done to look after him. Having a horse is a great education really. There is the horse riding but there is so much more in terms of care.
He’s going strong, he really is a hardy horse, although I don’t ride him anymore. We’ve had our ups and downs; he definitely wasn’t the most docile of animals but we are all the stronger for it. He was the love of my life – well, he was the original love of my life really!
Elizabeth Kennedy and Simon. \ Odhran Ducie
It’s funny, I suppose I talk about him a lot and there have been moments of confusion when people didn’t realise Simon was a horse and not a human. Last year I got married to Barry. In work before the wedding, someone asked me if Simon had his suit for the big day and I was thinking ‘that’s a bit much now, even I wouldn’t be going that far even for Simon.’ I obviously hadn’t been talking about Barry as much as Simon!
We live in Glin, west Limerick, on the border with Kerry. It is famous for the castle and it is a charming place to call home. Barry is from Ballybunion and it is the half-way point between my home and his, so that is our compromise. We are both total home-birds.
It’s handy as well because my work is based in Listowel. I am an occupational therapist on the north Kerry team, so I work with children with complex disability needs between the ages of zero to 18.
Elizabeth Kennedy and Simon. \ Odhran Ducie
These days I am up at home most evenings feeding calves. I just love getting stuck in.
I suppose it’s easy for me to say that because I don’t have to do it every single day; it is quite novel. I’m not the one up calving during the night. So, it is nice to be able to give them a helping hand.
If there are no jobs for me, I’ll grab the binoculars and bring the dogs up the fields. We have these really cool buzzards at the moment and plenty of hawks. They’re just lovely to watch. I started paying attention to them when I used to be up the fields with Simon. It is lovely out in the peace and quiet of the fields, watching the birds gliding in the sky.
My dad always had a few race horses. We are the only two in the family who like racing or horses. We’re both dreamers. We go to point-to-points and Limerick racecourse.
Getting starstruck
I love following a horse, and at the races down by the rails, the sound of the hooves as they pass by. It’s so nice to experience that – you can’t feel that when watching on the telly.
A friend of dad’s had a good racehorse and we went to Aintree with him. I think that’s what happened me; dreaming of having a racehorse that’d be good enough to contend with the big boys. You see these underdog stories every now and then and we hold onto the dream that one of our racehorses would take on the best of them.
Elizabeth Kennedy and Simon. \ Odhran Ducie
Cragbeg Jess is our racehorse and hopefully she will be going to a point-to-point soon. Dad named her after Jess, our sheepdog. It’s a bit gas and I had nothing got to do with it. Even though we have zero evidence, we are still hoping she might give us a trip to Cheltenham one day.
This year for the Cheltenham festival I’ve my annual leave booked. Usually, I have to work for one day and miss the action but this year I am managing to be off for all of it.
Barry is brilliant, he is a sport lover but he wasn’t into the racing before he met me. Now he is happy to head off for the day to the races or watch them on the telly. We’ve been to Cheltenham once together and hopefully we’ll go again.
Elizabeth Kennedy and Simon. \ Odhran Ducie
I‘ve been a few times. It’s such a buzz and I get starstruck watching the horses go around the parade ring. I could be thinking for months and months about how a race will go and in 10 minutes it could all change. How quickly it is all over, how things change, so long as everybody stays safe. I adore the unpredictability of the jumps racing – it would definitely be my favourite type of racing.”
Read more
A maternity leave start your own business course led to livery yard success
Hard work from equine farmers pays off as TAMS scheme announced
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