The Succession Story of Lar & Lauren Kinsella’s Family Farm

Lauren Kinsella

Laurence Kinsella

Klara McGriskin

Lar and his wife, Bridget, have one son, Lauren. In 1996, Lar unexpectedly inherited the family farm from a relative who had no children. At the time, he was working off-farm and, while managing a mortgage and family responsibilities, gradually set about developing the holding. The farm had fallen into disrepair over the years, so he faced both the challenge of restoring it and the opportunity to build it up again.

“It came out of the blue,” Lar recalls. “The land was left to me, but I also inherited the bills and debts that went with it.”

The farm operated as a mixed enterprise, consisting of forestry, sheep and suckler cows, and over the years Lar invested steadily in improving what had become a run-down holding. Through hard work and careful investment, he transformed the farm into a more productive and sustainable business.

From an early age, his son Lauren had a strong interest in farming. After studying agriculture and working as a nutritionist, he always hoped to return home to farm full-time. However, both father and son recognised that the existing suckler system would not provide a viable full-time income for the next generation.

“We could see there was no future in suckler farming as a full-time career,” explains Lar. “If Lauren was going to come home, we needed a different plan.”

After many discussions around the kitchen table, they decided that dairy farming offered the best opportunity to create a sustainable future for the farm. Before making the transition, Lauren gained practical experience working on a dairy farm and relief milking.

The move into dairy farming began in 2015, with the establishment of a joint herd number and detailed planning. A Registered Farm Partnership was formed in 2016, allowing both generations to work together while also accessing supports available through the partnership structure.

The transition required significant investment in livestock, infrastructure and facilities. Both Lar and Lauren describe the financial and administrative aspects of the project as some of the most challenging parts of the journey.

“We were completely new to large-scale borrowing and investment,” says Lauren. “The banking, legal and financial side of things was probably more difficult than the farming itself.”

Professional advice played an important role throughout the process. The family worked closely with Teagasc, their accountant and financial institutions to develop the business. Looking back, they encourage other families to seek specialist advice early and not to be afraid to ask questions.

“Don’t rely on one opinion,” advises Lar. “Talk to different professionals and make sure you understand every step.” “Ask questions and double-check everything,” Lauren advises. “Don’t assume everyone understands farm transfers and agricultural businesses.”

” Having gone through the process, we’d tell anyone going through succession or expansion to ask plenty of questions and stay involved in the process,” says Lauren. “When you’re busy changing enterprise and investing in the farm, it’s easy to leave things in other people’s hands. However, it’s important to keep checking progress and understanding what’s happening. Just because someone is the professional doesn’t mean you shouldn’t understand what’s happening. Make sure the advice and decisions being made are right for your farm and your circumstances. Nobody will take as much interest in your farm business as you will yourself.”

The farm started with 50 dairy heifers and has continued to evolve over the last decade. Today, the business milks just over 100 cows and operates on both owned and leased land with a milking platform of 40 hectares. As the farm expanded, father and son learned valuable lessons about balancing growth with profitability.

In recent years, they made the decision to reduce cow numbers from around 140 cows and focus on efficiency rather than expansion.

“We realised that bigger wasn’t necessarily better,” says Lauren. “By reducing herd size, we improved efficiency and reduced pressure on the system while maintaining production”.  Although cow numbers have been reduced by nearly 30% over the past few years, milk output has only fallen by 10%.

Succession has been a gradual process, with part of the farm already transferred to Lauren and plans in place to complete the transfer of the remaining assets. Although ownership is moving to the next generation, Lar has no plans to step away from farming. Instead, both father and son will continue to work together in partnership, ensuring a smooth transition while allowing the business to benefit from both experience and new ideas.

Both Lar and Lauren recognise the important role that a few tax reliefs played in making the transfer achievable. As the transfer was from father to son, Lar qualified for Retirement Relief, meaning no Capital Gains Tax arose on the transfer of the land despite the increase in its value over the years. Lauren, who is under 35 and has the required agricultural qualifications, qualified for Young Trained Farmer Stamp Duty Relief, reducing the stamp duty rate from 7.5% to 0%. He also met the conditions for Agricultural Relief, which reduced the taxable value of the agricultural assets by 90% for Capital Acquisitions Tax purposes. Together, these reliefs significantly reduced the cost of transferring the farm and helped ensure that more of the farm’s value could be retained within the family. Reflecting on the process, Lar says that while the reliefs were invaluable, understanding how they worked and making sure everything was done correctly was equally important. “There’s great reliefs there for farm families, but you need to know what’s available and make sure you’re getting the right advice to make the most of them.”

Both generations believe that open communication has been one of the key factors in making the transition work successfully.

“We discuss everything,” says Lar. “There can be different opinions, but at the end of the day, Lauren will be carrying the business forward, so his view has to be central to the long-term decisions.”

For Lauren, having the opportunity to return home and build a future in farming has been hugely rewarding, despite the challenges that come with establishing and growing a business.

The family sees generational renewal as much more than a transfer of land and assets. For them, it has been about creating a viable future, sharing responsibility and allowing the next generation to take ownership of the farm’s direction.

Their advice to other farming families considering succession is simple: start the conversation early, seek professional advice, and give the next generation the opportunity to become involved in decision-making.

“Nothing happens overnight,” says Lauren. “The sooner you start talking about it, the easier it becomes.”

Today, the Kinsella family continues to build a modern dairy business together, combining the experience of one generation with the ambition and ideas of the next.

The above first appeared in Securing the Future of Irish Farms: Approaches for Generation Renewal (PDF), produced as part of Teagasc Generational Renewal Week 2026.