Departing from the Paddocks at Kylemore for another summer, Kylemore Abbey’s mare and foal arrive in County Kildare, Irish National Stud in sustainable style. The partnership of two of Ireland’s leading visitor attractions which promotes the beautiful, native Irish pony breed – the Connemara pony, which began in 2022 is continuing for another summer season, but this year with an eco-twist! Read on below for more...
Kylemore Abbey’s Connemara Pony, “Park Ruby” along with her filly foal, “Peaceful Maisie” embarked on a journey from their home at Kylemore Abbey, nestled in the heart of Connemara, and travelling from the west coast to the east by one of Kylemore Abbey’s HVO (hydrotreated vegetable oil) vehicles.
Since 2019, Kylemore Abbey has been making a concerted effort to become a leader in sustainable tourism, introducing the native pony breed to the Kylemore Abbey estate in 2019 to enhance Biodiversity and being awarded the Most Sustainable Business Award in 2021 at the Galway Chamber Awards. Additionally, the 1,000-acre estate established a valued partnership with the University of Galway to deliver a Biodiversity Stewardship Programme. The estate has continued to make significant strides in going green, with its fleet of shuttle buses which carries over 250,000 visitors the 1.6km distance between the castle and garden annually changing to Biofuel and the neo-Gothic Church, a historic building which dates back to 1874, being heated using the same eco-friendly fuel. This year, Kylemore Abbey continues its green mission with the introduction of HVO fueled vehicles across the estate. Reflecting on the partnership, Kylemore Abbey’s CEO, Conor Coyne notes, “This partnership, with The Irish National Stud is hugely important to us in Kylemore Abbey as we both share a great love for Irish equine, which we promote to a large domestic and international audience. Furthermore, we both strive to operate to the highest of sustainable principles.”
In addition to being a leading visitor attraction, the Irish National Stud is committed to sustainability, implementing sustainable farming practices across the more than 850-acre estate. The partnership allows the approximate 100,000 equine enthusiasts who visit the Irish National Stud each summer the opportunity to see and learn more about this beautiful native Irish breed which is known for its docile nature while allowing Park Ruby and Maisie the opportunity to enjoy the lush grass of County Kildare and a chance to run alongside racehorse legends, “Faugheen”, “Hurricane Fly”, “Beef or Salmon” and the newest addition, “Sizing John”, 3 time gold cup winner, and winner of the racehorse to riding horse class in the RDS in 2023. The Irish National Stud's champion race mare, “Quevega”, who welcomed a filly foal this year, will be joining Kylemore's “Park Ruby” and “Peaceful Maisie” as their new neighbour.
The mare and foal chosen to make the trip this year holds a special significance for the community of Benedictine nuns. Park Ruby, who was gifted to Kylemore Abbey from Terranova National Park in Canada, gave birth to the first and only filly foal in Kylemore this year. The Benedictine community chose to name that foal “Maisie” after their former Abbess, Sr. Máire Hickey who passed away earlier in the year.
Kylemore Abbey which welcomes approximately 560,000 visitors annually has a full summer schedule of daily history talks, Victorian Walled Garden talks, and Connemara Pony talks, where visitors can meet more of the Kylemore Abbey “Peaceful” Connemara Pony herd along with their foals in the Kylemore Pony Paddock.
Kylemore Abbey is open to visitors 7 days, 10am to 6pm. For more information and to book tickets, please visit www.kylemoreabbey.com
All photo courtesy of Kylemore Abbey.
