When the sod was turned on the first Kerry Co-op production facility in Listowel in 1973, those present could hardly have dreamed of the wealth the business would bring to the town and surroundings.

Irish Farmers Journal analysis of the data on shareholders released by Kerry Group shows that 736 of those had a Listowel address.

Their holdings had an average value of just over €211,000, far in excess of the average amount received by all shareholders of €137,900. In fact, almost one in five of the millionaires listed here has Listowel in their address.

In total, taking a Kerry share price of €100, there is more than €155m of value being unlocked for the town and its hinterland. That will inevitably provide a huge boost for a town which – according to most recent Census data – had a population of fewer than 5,000 people.

So, when you’re thinking of the richest little town in Ireland, it might be worth forgetting about the leafy Dublin suburbs of Dalkey, Howth or Killiney and instead look at the market town in north Kerry where some farmers got together in the early 1970s with what has turned out to be a very good idea.