84 acres of Cork-Kerry border lands up for sale
The Cork-Kerry border-lands between Newmarket and Castleisland have productive agricultural activity on land that is mainly elevated, and of mixed quality.
A current offering from Castleisland-based auctioneers Stuart & Company offers a microcosm of sorts of this part of the world.
The property is an 83.98-acre holding located in the townland of Glantanefinnane, near the village of Ballydesmond.
“It’s of mixed quality,” says Tom Stuart.
“There’s an old house there and a farmyard with a collection of outbuildings, some of them are more recent than others.”
The outbuildings include a slatted unit for 32 animals (incorporating a calving area), along with an extensive concrete yard and a range of old outbuildings.
The house appears to be in good structural order, but it is derelict and hasn’t been lived in for some number of years.
“The land in the immediate proximity of the house is good land,” says Tom.
“It has been used for grazing, hay and silage over the years.”
There are 12 acres of forestry too. This is 23 years old, so there are no premiums deriving from it.
“The remainder of the land is bare land and it’s currently used for rough grazing. Some of the land here is impacted by the presence of the hen harrier,” says Tom, pointing out that such land is of limited agricultural use due to the conservation laws regarding areas defined as hen harrier habitats.
The village of Ballydesmond over the Blackwater River in Co Cork, is approximately 8km away, while Newmarket is about 13km.
A lot of the land in that area is elevated and it has seen afforestation over the years.
The interest in the farm has quite brisk, according to the selling agent.
There have been a number of enquiries to date, including a certain amount of interest from overseas.
Access to the property is very good, with the public road essentially dividing the farm in two.
“Then there’s an avenue from the public road up to the farmyard,” says Tom.
“It’s about 100m up. There’s a huge amount of road frontage there.”
The farm comes with entitlements that are worth in the region of €7,000 per year, and the property is being sold seeking offers and without an advertised price guide.
It’s not an easy property to put a figure on.
The mixture of forestry, good quality and rough grazing, gives some indication, but the hen harrier situation complicates the picture.
