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Lucy the longhorn cow, one of the many interesting and exotic animals to be seen at Ardmore Open Farm.

Denis and Bridget Collins have always had a keen interest in animals and this summer, their dream to connect their work with their passion has come true, as they have just opened the Ardmore Open Farm in Waterford.

Originally from Kilworth, Denis said that he was always interested in horses and rare breeds of animals and birds and he said that the number of people visiting Ardmore from Fermoy, Mitchelstown and other areas opened up his eyes to the possibility of starting an open farm.

"It's a beautiful spot, but amenity wise, there wasn't that much to do. Bridget's parents are retired farmers and so we approached them with the idea of developing the farm - this has been three years in the planning and now it has all come together," Denis told The Avondhu.

Denis said that once the initial idea was formed, they bounced it off family and friends and the positive reaction urged them to take it further and they started looking into where they could source the kind of animals they wanted and got a grant from the Waterford Leader group.

The business involves a lot of travelling and sourcing, for example, in a single week, Denis had travelled to Wexford to get pigs, to get goats from Meath, birds from Kilkenny, as well as travelling to Scotland, England and Wales to source animals at other times. 

"We wanted to be different - there's plenty of open farms, but we wanted to combine the farm with a fully interactive play centre, with an emphasis on rare breeds and different types of animals that you definitely wouldn't see if you were driving along the country roads," Denis explained. 

The farm boasts many different breeds of cows, pigs, horses, sheep and goats, as well as four different types of donkeys which have come from as far as France, including the Poitous variety of which there are only 600 in the world and the only two in Ireland are in Ardmore.

There are also many rare species of birds, ducks, geese, peacocks, pheasant, ring tail lemurs, meerkats, snowy owls and many more animals and birds.

"We didn't want a standard goat or cow, that's why we went over and above and travelled the length and breadth of the country and beyond to find what we wanted," Denis said.

Denis works as an agricultural consultant in FBA house in Fermoy and he said that the open farm gives him a different side to agriculture and brings it to a whole new level.

The peak seasons for most open farms is from June to August, but Denis and Bridget thought that was too short and they decided that they could keep it open all year round by putting in a full play centre, a cafe, outdoor play equipment, a zip line, soccer pitch, machinery and diggers for children imported from Sweden and mechanical karts.

"We wanted to offer something that isn't weather dependent and come November, we will be open weekends and most of the animals can be seen indoors. It means that even if the weather is poor, they can still have a great day out. I think the Winter will be our busy season and I'm looking forward to November and December as the place will really come to life with all the animals indoors under the one roof," Denis explained.

The farm is set on 22 acres and 16 are dedicated to the open farm, while there is still room for expansion in the coming years.

"95% of the animals can be petted and for the adults they get to see rare breeds that they would have never seen before," Denis said.

From June until August, they will be open seven days a week from 11am until 6pm Monday to Saturday, from 12 noon to 6pm on Sundays and off peak, they will be open weekends and would welcome parties, school tours and functions, while they will also hold special feature events at Hallowe'en, Easter and Christmas.

Denis added that the farm is just off the main Waterford, Cork road, less than 40 minutes from Fermoy and just under an hour from Mitchelstown and so far, their Facebook page has attracted nearly 2,200 likes which is an incredible following considering it is only up and running a few months.

"The feedback from people both in person and through Facebook has been unbelievable and we are really taken back by the reaction and positive comments people have made. The look on the children's faces once they come in the door tells its own story," Denis said.

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