Western grazing land guided at €1m

THE executor sale of 150ac of land in three different pieces across three counties in Galway, Mayo and Roscommon should bring out a range of local customers.

Tuam auctioneer Martin Tyrell is handling the sale of the estate of the late Patrick Joyce that includes a 45ac parcel at Blindwell, Kilconly located 12km north of Tuam; a parcel of 71ac of mixed lands at Emlagh, near Castleplunkett in Roscommon and 34ac of good grazing ground at Roose, Hollymount near Ballinrobe in Co Mayo.

Mr Tyrell’s guide price for the private treaty sale of the entire is €1m.

I was intrigued by the place names associated with the farms and discovered that ‘Blindwell’, which appears to have no Irish antecedent, was home to the Kirwan family, a substantial landowning clan who owned up to 7,000ac in Co Galway in the 1870s.

Emlagh in Co Roscommon means ‘borderland’ which is probably from the Irish word ‘imeall’ for border, edge or margin.

It is aptly located in border country between the territories of the Tribesmen and the Rossies.

The final parcel at Roose, Hollymount in Co Mayo also excited my interest and my stab at finding an Irish root for Roose led me to ‘ruis’, the old Irish name for the elder tree and also the word for the letter ‘r’ in the Ogham alphabet.

This is just a shot in the dark and I’m sure someone will make contact to correct me if I’m wide of the mark — please do.

I’m sure neither Martin Tyrell nor the vendors are particularly interested in the origins or etymology of the place names — quality, cost and a sale are all that matter in this business.

Grazing ground

The parcel at Blindwell, Kilconly near the Galway/Mayo border extends to 45ac and is described as top class grazing ground equally suited to tillage.

There are no buildings on the farm that comes with frontage on to a secondary road. Mr Tyrell believes it will be very attractive to local farmers.

Staying in the Mayo/Galway borderland, a 34ac parcel of what Mr Tyrell describes as ‘very good land’ is located at Roose, Hollymount not far from Ballinrobe.

The property is located in a good farming area, has decent access and is said to be suitable for livestock or tillage.

The 71ac farm at Emlagh Castleplunkett across the border in Roscommon is described as a mixed farm with 50ac of good grassland and 21ac of poorer ground that needs reclamation.

With good road frontage on to a secondary road the place is easily accessible and should stir a lot of local interest.

Mr Tyrell says the 150ac property is one of the most substantial he has had on his books in recent years and, given it is for sale in manageable parcels, he expects no shortage of customers. He is guiding the sale at between €4,000 and €7,000/ac.