Big Apple punter first out of the blocks for Rossie holding
A FRIEND of mine has sheep that are inclined to wander. I met her some time ago and in the course of conversation I asked her how her ovine bohemians are behaving.
“Oh, they have my heart broken,” she replied, “you won’t believe this, but last week my son phoned from Australia and said: ‘Mam, go down to the road quick, the sheep are out.’ ”
The vigilant son had seen a live feed on Facebook put up by one of his friends.
“The rascals of sheep had the whole place held up and he knew it in Australia before I did,” added my exasperated friend.
The wonders of modern technology are transforming everything. Rooskey auctioneer Seamus McCarthy has a lovely 83ac residential farm for sale and he tells me that the minute it went live on the net the first call came from a man in New York.
The top quality Roscommon farm with a fine farmhouse and a mix of modern and traditional sheds is for sale by private treaty with a guide price of between €500,000 and €650,000 for the entire with the land guided at €6,000/ac to €8,000/ac.
The house on its own site is valued at €150,000.
Located in a highly productive farming area, the holding is close to the village of Rooskey just across the Shannon from Longford. Mr McCarthy says the owners are retiring from farming after a long and diligent career spent building up and improving their holding.
The impressive, two storey residence is 120 years old and in fine condition. The accommodation includes spacious and high-ceilinged rooms with a careful finish.
There are two reception rooms to the front of the house while a kitchen/dining area, utility and guest WC are located to the rear. Upstairs there are four bedrooms and a family bathroom.
Courtyard
The back door opens out to a traditional courtyard with old stone walls and a range of stone out-buildings, while behind that again is the more modern farmyard.
A wide range of farm buildings includes a five-column hayshed, a four-bay, back-toback slatted shed with passage slabs and a silage slab. There are lean-to sheds incorporating lying areas, a cattle crush and calf creep.
The land is, in the main, fine grazing ground with extensive road frontage on to a country road that bisects the property. “This quiet country road is like an internal roadway servicing all the fields,” says Mr McCarthy.
The generous road frontage also means the holding can be divided into a number of lots making it more attractive to local farmers.
The farm is home to four small areas of bogland that have been allowed grow fallow and have become wildflower and wildlife habitats. “This is a most attractive property — the owners put their hearts and souls into it over the years and it has every sign of that,” added Mr McCarthy.