Land sales off to a flier as Meath farm makes €26,000 per acre
Strong prices are being achieved for farmland and stud farms on the private treaty market and at auction, reports Jim O’Brien
Even before the land-sales season starts in earnest, farms are making strong prices on both the private treaty and auction markets.
Coonan auctioneers recently handled the sale of a 188ac farm at Milltown near Ashbourne in Meath for a price believed to be in the region of €5m or almost €26,600/ac. Located about 1km from the main street of Ashbourne and just off the M2 motorway, the lands are within 20km of Dublin city centre and a 10 minute drive to Dublin Airport.
According to Phillip Byrne of Coonans, the property has been farmed to a very high standard over the past number of years and is currently in tillage.
It comes with excellent road frontage to the public road and is made up of top quality free-draining ground suitable for any agricultural or equestrian enterprise.
Approximately 15ac are zoned for amenity use in the current Meath Development Plan, which is under review.
The lands were sold in one lot.
Staying on the private treaty market, Coonans also handled the recent sale of Millgrove Stud in Rathangan Co Kildare. According to Phillip Byrne, the farm made slightly under the guide price of €1.2m. Located 8km from Rathangan and 18km from the Curragh, the 75ac residential farm was once owned by Wally Swinburn, an Irish champion jockey father of Walter Swinburn, the jockey who rode Shergar to his famous victory in the 1981 Epsom Derby.
The senior Swinburn bought the property in 1972 for £40,000 and it was sold in the most recent sale by a Galway businessman with equine interests. The period residence includes a conservatory porch, three reception rooms, an office, a kitchen with an Aga cooker and ancillary facilities. The sleeping accommodation consists of five principal ensuite bedrooms and two staff bedrooms.
The equestrian facilities are laid out over two yards, the first with a staff cottage and 22 loose boxes under a slate cantilever roof. The outer yard has a substantial sevencolumn A-roofed haybarn
Millgrove Stud, near Rathangan, was once home to Irish champion jockey Wally Swinburn whose son Walter rode Shergar to victory in the 1981 Epsom Derby that is fully sheeted down. The main feature is a large American barn in generous proportions containing 20 boxes, all with automatic water and swivel pots.
Other equine facilities include a lunging ring, a six-horse walker, a circular
The 188ac farm at Milltown, near Ashbourne, sold for a price in the region of €5m sand gallop and sand arena. Farming facilities include two silage pits, a cattle yard, holding pens and a cattle crush. The land is all top quality, laid out in 11 divisions with plenty of shelter and a natural water supply from the Figile River.