Roscrea native caring for horses in America
A Roscrea native who emigrated to the US over three decades ago has ended up buying a farm where he takes in mistreated animals and gives them a loving home until the end of their lives.
Mark Kirwan, a former student of the National Stud in Ireland, is caring for abandoned and mistreated horses on a farm he purchased by the famous Blue Ridge Mountains in Virginia.
Mark, the owner of two restaurants and Irish style bars in Arlington and Washington, decided to buy the farm and turn it into an animal sanctuary to change his lifestyle following the challenges posed to his businesses by the Covid pandemic.
His decision caught the attention of a television crew working for RTÉ in the US that decided to make a feature on his life.
The feature has already run twice on RTÉ’s popular Nationwide programme, and has won a prestigious Whitehouse Photographers Association Award for its makers.
VARIED LIFE
Mark has lived a very varied life, having worked all over the world as a representative for Guinness before settling in the States.
As well as a restaurant/bar owner, he served in law enforcement for 21 years with the Washington Police Department.
Then over three years ago he purchased the farm in Culpeper, Virginia. He calls it Kirwan’s Farm, where he and his partner, Abby, provide sanctuary for not just horses but donkeys, alpacas, cats, dogs and even peacocks.
“There’s great solace here, its beautiful, peaceful and quiet,” Mark told Nationwide. “It allows the animals enjoy their last piece of life after losing trust in humans who would have neglected them and mistreated them for so many years.”
The horses Mark has taken in were beaten and severely treated. They end up in a kill pen in Pennsylvania where he goes and outbids meat buyers for them.
The love and care they receive when they arrive on Kirwan’s Farm is in stark contrast to the brutality of their former lives.
Each week the horses get a special treat - a bottle of Guinness in their mash. “That’s kind of an Irish trait, because Guinness is known to give horses a great sheen on their coat,” Mark told Nationwide.
Mark said running the sanctuary is a tough job that involves full commitment, seven days a week, 365 days a year.
But he finds the life fulfilling. “People say, ‘it’s great, you rescued these animals’, but they actually rescued me.”
He says that looking after the animals kept him grounded during all the challenges posed by the pandemic and the current political upheavals now evident in the US.