Lock, stock and barrel in Kilkenny for €550,000
KILKENNY auctioneer Pat Gannon says he has never seen the whitethorn in such bloom as this year. “It’s a great sign of land,” he adds as we drive along the central roadway of a 44ac residential farm for sale at Ballyouskill on the Kilkenny Laois border.
Located 4km from Ballinakill in Laois, 8km from Ballyragget and 7km from Durrow, the farm with an extensive range of sheds can be bought in lots or as an entire with a guide price of €550,000.
The holding is located in the small Kilkenny village of Ballyouskill beside the local church and 200m from The Wheel Inn, a licensed premises. “That pub was closed for a few years,” explains Mr Gannon, “but it opened recently and is going a bomb.” A sure sign that some life is returning to rural Ireland.
The property is in the shadow of Ballymartin, the highest point in north Kilkenny and one of the more infamous travellers along the piece of highway traversing Ballymartin was one Oliver Cromwell on his rampage through the country.
The owner of the 44ac farm is retiring and selling the holding, lock stock and barrel. The house, which contained a shop at one stage is a long substantial traditional farmhouse over two storeys with accommodation that includes a typical country kitchen, sitting room, dining room, lounge, two bedrooms and a bathroom.
Upstairs are three bedrooms. Out of doors a fuel shed and small storage spaces are located adjacent to the house with a garden to the front and a lawn area to the side.
Outbuildings and land
The substantial outbuildings have accommodation for 100 head of stock and are set out in a very good yard. The buildings include a five-column haybarn with a five-column lean-to behind the house.
Other facilities include a slatted house, three stables, a workshop, a cubicle house and a six-bay slatted shed. The land is in an ‘L’ shape behind the house and is serviced by a good, hard-core roadway. In the sunshine and with the whitethorn in bloom, the place looks smashing. The fields are divided by a combination of wire fencing and natural hedgerow and while there is evidence of rushes on part of the land, by and large it is in fine condition.
“If there is a bit of reclamation to be done,” explains Mr Gannon, “the Owenbeg River bounding part of the land will take whatever drainage comes its way.” At the back of the farm are two of the finest fields you are likely to see, slightly elevated with a fine crown of grass.
It is clear the place was farmed well over the years and some considerable investment was made in the buildings and the layout of the fields.
The farm will be offered in lots at auction with the entire consisting of the house and yards on 44ac, while the second lot will consist of the house, garage and five-span haybarn on 1.3ac. The third lot is made up of 42.7ac of land.
The auction takes place at the Castle Arms Hotel, Durrow at 3pm on Thursday, June 23.