New gates for Sallymount Stud

Stud has long historyWork has begun on the widening of the main gates of Sallymount Stud in Brannockstown, writes Brian Byrne.

The construction work will involve extending the entrance by a metre, and the provision of new gates. This will require the stone pillars to be moved, and the building of new curved walls to replace those which have to be taken down in the works.

Sallymount is one of the studs maintained in Ireland by the Aga Khan, the spiritual leader of the Ismaili Muslims. The Stud is used to house the owner's mares after foaling. The other properties include the larger Gilltown Stud across the road, and Sheshoon and Brownstown.

Gilltown and the adjoining Sallymount are on lands once owned by Dermot McMurrough, King of Leinster. From the end of the 16th century, the property was owned by the Borrowes family, whose descendants lived at Gilltown into the 20th century. Other owners included Captain RB Brassey and Viscount Furness.

When the Aga Khan took over the studs from the estate of his father Prince Aly Khan in 1960, his inheritance included six farms in Ireland. To make management of the properties more efficient, he sold Gilltown and Sallymount to American racehorse owners Bert and Diana Firestone in 1974, but bought them back 18 years later.

Through their timeline of ownerships, the Gilltown-Sallymount properties would have had connections to the Vikings, the Cistercian monks of Baltinglass Abbey, Thelma Morgan Converse, a mistress of Edward Prince of Wales; the actress Rita Hayworth, wife of Prince Aly Khan; and most recently Queen Elizabeth II of England, who visited Gilltown on her state visit to Ireland.