When you walk along the weaving paths outside the residence at Landscape Stud in Kilsheelan in Tipperary, you feel as though you are sheltered from reality somewhat.

The warm breeze is broken by a commanding presence of the trees that surround you as you walk the short distance from the house to the fields.

By your side is the River Suir, which is a picture in the June summer sun. Hay has been freshly made in the large paddocks, as the horses take shelter from the mid-day sun. Late June in east Tipperary was hot, but the 91 acres that the stud farm encompasses looked wonderful.

Tradition is something that this holding certainly does not lack. A unique property, it has been home to renowned horse breeding family, the O’Briens, since the late 1970s. The maintenance and class of the property is down predominantly to the late Phonsie O’Brien and his wife, Ann. Kept in great condition, the thought, presentation and execution of the property is second to none.

Tradition

In horseracing circles you would struggle to find a name more respected than O’Brien.

Phonsie was a successful amateur rider for his brother, the renowned Vincent O’Brien, and among many other races rode the winner of 10 Gloucester hurdles at the Cheltenham Festival.

In 1956 Phonsie took out a trainer licence and is best remembered for his four consecutive winners of the Galway Plate (which is a record to this day) and winning the Irish Derby with Chamour.

Phonsie dedicated the next 40 years to Landscape Stud, and turned his attention to breeding and pinhooking national hunt foals with notable success.

Fully functional at present, the stud farm is being run by his daughter, Gillian, a well-known trainer in her own right.

Training horses very successfully out of Landscape Stud, she won two Cesarewitch Handicaps consecutively at the Curragh, as well as a Gold Cup at Fairyhouse.

The beautiful residence

The house is a wonderful 4,500 sq ft Georgian residence. Surrounded by mature trees, it has ample privacy. The interior is maintained excellently and the house has a traditional feel. While the house looks substantial, it retains a homely feel and contains four bedrooms, an entrance hall, a magnificent drawing room, a study/family room, a dining room, a kitchen, an office and a cloakroom.

In addition there is a quaint guest suite which includes a bedroom and bathroom.

The stud and lands

The yard includes 14 boxes, a three-bedroom staff flat, a hay barn, an eight-unit walker, a lunging ring, a walled garden and three isolation boxes.

Fully functioning, it is kept well and is notably very tidy. In terms of practicality, it couldn’t be more so. The stud is within 50m of the house, with the lands surrounding both.

Speaking of the lands, in total they equate to 91 acres. Mainly limestone, the paddocks are laid out in eight divisions.

Currently all in permanent pasture, they contain a superb shelter-belt along the perimeter of the lands and have extensive road frontage. The property’s location is also desirable, situated just outside Kilsheelan on the Waterford-Tipperary border, circa 7km from Clonmel and circa 12km from Carrick-on-Suir.

The offering

The property is for sale by public auction on Wednesday, 25 July, at noon in the Hotel Minella, Clonmel, unless previously sold. The auctioneer handling the sale, Paddy Jordan of Jordan Town and Country Estate Agents, is guiding this wonderful package for €1.3m.

Interest will be high from both locals and elsewhere.