About

History to Now

Forthill Farm, a mixed traditional farm, derives its name from an old Ring Fort on the farm and has been home to the Gracey family since at least the early 1700s. Sadly many of Ireland’s archived documents, beyond that era, were lost in the massive explosion in 1922 which destroyed Ireland’s Public Records Office in Dublin.

The Gracey family made a firm choice in the nineties to opt for raising rare breed animals at Forthill Farm. Many of these livestock breeds had fallen out of fashion with the rise of factory farming. The stock includes English Longhorn and Belted Galloway cattle, Gloucester Old Spot and British Saddleback pigs as well as Herdwick and Jacob sheep. Old fashioned breeds of chickens mix with the more unusual breeds of ducks, geese and turkeys which all fall under the watchful eyes of a group of curious emu. The unexpected bonus from establishing as a rare breed farm has been the ability to supply the film industry with animals appropriate to the varied productions’ individual requirements.

Respected animal wrangler and seasoned farmer, Kenny Gracey, heads the team at Forthill Animals and Carriages. He competed successfully in carriage driving trials with his four in hand teams of horses. In addition to the wide variety of animals, he is surrounded by a collection of vintage carriages, wagons, drays, carts, harness and antique farm implements and chattels. These artefacts are commonly hired for period productions as well as being employed for events. He has a wealth of knowledge and experience of historical vehicles and farming methods which is a great resource for the industry.

Kenny has an innate relationship with his own animals and his soothing and kind approach quickly wins the confidence of any animals he may need to source. He has carefully established a small but strong team of similarly minded individuals who each bring their own expertise too. For Kenny and his team, animal welfare and safe handling is of utmost importance whilst still reliably meeting the exacting demands of a production. There is huge pride at Forthill Animals and Carriages for its role primarily within Northern Ireland’s thriving film industry but the team has happily set off to productions further afield as well.