Dairy prospects in Drumlin country
MY travels last week took me up into that corner of Monaghan surrounded on three sides by the six counties and to a 57ac farm with extensive sheds at Drumgahan, Glaslough.
The holding is for sale by private treaty with all written offers expected before 2pm on Monday next, November 13. Auctioneer Jim Duffy is guiding the price at between €700,000 and €750,000.
It’s a long way from Munster to the Drumlins of Monaghan. Crossing into Connacht, north Leinster and into Ulster the names over the doors mark one’s progress as Ryans, O’Briens and Fahys give way to McKennas, McElvanneys and Treanors. The roads are busy with a mixture of yellow and white number plates criss-crossing the border on roads that weave in and out of the two jurisdictions.
The number of big lorries on these relatively narrow roads is remarkable and it struck me that when and if Brexit bites it is going to create an enormous mess for this part of the island.
More than that it’s going to be a tragedy, the place is bustling with business and it’s frightening to think that some Monday morning it might all stop.
My business wasn’t Brexit and I made my way to the lovely village of Glaslough where Jim Duffy and his nephew, Barry met me in the Diamond and we travelled 5km to the farm.
Located in the townsland of Drumgahan the property is about 1km from the N2 Dublin to Derry Road.
The yard is an impressive facility with fine sheds and space for up to 130 cattle. The centrepiece is an A-roofed, five-column modern shed with double bays and a central feeding passage and 100 cubicles over slatted tanks.
Milking parlour
Other buildings include a relatively modern milking parlour, disused for a number of years but could be recommissioned.
The yard also includes three large silage pits, a smaller cubicle shed, a round roofed shed, a grain silo and a large machinery or fodder shed.
An older section of the yard has a round-roofed shed, and some stone outbuildings including a lofted stone barn.
The land is laid out over five large fields with extensive frontage onto three roads with one of the roads bisecting the farm. It is drumlin territory with fine elevated ground that is firm underfoot even after the recent wet weather.
According to the auctioneers the farm is located in a vein of great land that stretches from Clones to Portadown. The boundary fencing is done with the best of fencing material and the large fields could be easily paddocked for dairy purposes with access to all fields from the public roads.
There is lively interest in the property and Jim Duffy is expecting to have quite a few envelopes to open when the deadline for the written offers expires at 2pm on Monday, November 13.