Three farms of land in Limerick go under the hammer in a week for close to €2m

IT WAS a busy week for GVM's auction room in Kilmallock Mart with three highly successful sales of land in Kilmallock, Athlacca and Castletown.

The first two auctions took place on Friday, September 12 with GVM Kilmallock’s Richard Ryan starting proceedings with a 35.5 acre residential roadside farm at Millmount, Kilmallock (pictured below).

The lands are of excellent quality, laid out in easily managed, well-sheltered fields, ideal for livestock or dairy farming. Farm buildings include a haybarn, cattle pen, crush, and ancillary outbuildings. The property included a single-storey farmhouse, which was in need of complete refurbishment.

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Mr Ryan said a significant feature is the River Loobagh, which runs along a generous stretch of the boundary.

“The farm benefits from ample road frontage and is divided by the main Dublin–Cork railway line. However, a viaduct connects both sections, ensuring uninterrupted access,” he said.

The property was offered for sale in its entirety. The bids came from both in house and through the online LSL facility with a modest opening bid of €350,000. Mr Ryan had to use all his skill and experience to arrive at €530,000 where a recess was called.

After the break more bids were invited but the bid remained at €530,000. There was another short recess and on returning the property was placed on the market. At that juncture two further bids followed with the hammer coming down at €540,000 in favour of well known Limerick city based estate agent JC Gubbins, who was believed to have been representing a well-known local family.

Commenting after the auction, Mr Ryan said that it was a property that offered great potential given that there was an existing residence and it was well situated on the outskirts of Kilmallock. He was satisfied with the price achieved which was in line with the vendors’ expectations.

Drombeg, Athlacca

The second offering was a 64 acre residential roadside farm situated at Drombeg, Athlacca (pictured at top of the page).

The lands, which are of excellent quality, are all in permanent pasture and are laid out in easily managed well-sheltered fields. The Morning Star river flows along the southern boundary.

There is a haybarn with lean-tos, open slurry pit and ancillary out offices.

The residence is a traditional farmhouse which is maintained in good decorative order throughout.

The property was first offered for sale in lots. Lot 1, 59.5 acres reached €660,000. Lot 2, a 4.5 acre holding including the residence and yard only received one bid of €250,000.00. However, it was lot 3 (the entire) that truly lit the fuse in the room with a combined bid of €910,000.

Mr Ryan looked for offers in excess of it and wasn’t disappointed as there was a rapid exchange of bids from three in-house bidders. A recess was called at €1,110,000. On returning, Mr Ryan declared that he had received instructions to place the entire property on the market. A number of minutes later his gavel came down in favour of a County Kerry based in-house bidder at a very impressive €1,250,000 or €19,531 an acre.

After the auction, Mr Ryan said that the property was well presented for sale with a large portion of the land reseeded in recent years. Both he and the vendors expressed satisfaction with the price achieved. Mr Ryan noted there were two disappointed underbidders still seeking similar holdings, underlining the strong demand for quality farms in the area.

Ballyguile and  Ballynoe, Castletown

The third auction took place a week later on Friday, September 19. A roadside farm extending to 39.75 acres at Ballyguile and Ballynoe, Castletown (pictured below) was offered in a number of lots.

The lands were all in permanent pasture and were of varying quality. Some areas are considered good quality, while others, being of a heavier nature, are regarded as reasonably good grazing land that would benefit from improvement works to reach their full potential. The farm did contain a considerable amount of road frontage

Both lot 1 and lot 4 sold under the hammer to online bidders. Lot 1, 14.25 acre roadside holding sold for €165,000.00 while lot 4, 1 acre made €10,000.

Lot 2 failed to get an opening offer as did lot 3 which was a combination of lot 1 and 2 combined. Lot 2, 24.5 acres with yard is now available for sale by private treaty and Mr Ryan is confident that it won’t be around for long as his phone is busy with enquiries since the auction.