Laois beef farm guided at €1.26m

ONE OF the more substantial properties on the market at the moment is Skeirke House (pictured above), a period residence on 138ac at Ballybrophy in Co Laois. It is to be sold at auction with a guide price of €1.265m.

The holding is located between the M7 and the M8 motorways 4km from Borris-in-Ossory, 12km from Roscrea and 24km from Portlaoise.

Julie Fogarty of Roscrea-based selling agents Sherry FitzGerald Fogarty, says the farm was owned by the Roe family and run as a traditional beef farm. It has been leased in more recent years.

The property has frontage on to three roads and can be sold in lots or as an entire. Set in a series of large fields serviced by private well water the land is level, well fenced and in very good heart. It is sheltered by fine stands of hardwood trees and bounded externally by well-trimmed hedges.

Skeirke House is a period residence built in 1760 and is thought to have been the Glebe house for the local Church of Ireland. Extended in 1995 it comprises two distinct but interconnected houses of approximately 3,875 sq ft. The accommodation includes three reception rooms, two kitchens, a utility, pantry, three bathrooms and five bedrooms.

Courtyard

To the front of the house is a mature garden while to the rear is a stone courtyard. Adjacent to the courtyard is a range of farm buildings including a four-bay hayshed, a cubicle shed, silage pit, two crushes and a loose-bedded shed.

The holding will be sold at auction on Thursday, May 11 at 3pm at the Rackett Hall Hotel, Roscrea. It will be offered in its entire or in three lots that include 50.75ac guided at €375,000, 65.88ac guided at €540,000 while the house and yard on 21.19 acres is guided at €350,000.