A pair of Co Kildare stud farms exceeded the guide price by in excess of €2m at a public auction in the K Club Hotel, Straffan, Co Kildare, held by Coonan Property on Thursday 3 November.

The Tara Room at the K Club was packed for proceedings and Pickering Stud, Celbridge, was the first to go up for sale. Bidding opened at €2m, with three bidders bringing it to €3.35m before the auction broke for an instruction from the vendor. Following this, the 104 acre residential farm was placed on the market and bidding increased to €3.45m before being knocked down to a local farmer. This price equates to just over €34,000/ac.

The 104 acre Pickering stud.

Windgates Stud, Celbridge was then offered to the room. The bidding opened at €1m and was taken in various increments to €2.1m by six bidders. Following a short break, the stud farm was placed on the market and sold when the gavel fell to the highest bidder at €2.1m, putting it at just under €40,000/ac. The property was purchased in trust by a Dublin-based solicitor for a private client.

Will Coonan of Coonan Property said: “We were delighted with the auction result for both Windgates Stud and Pickering Stud which are both very attractive due to the excellent quality lands available and their location within north Kildare.

The two-story farmhouse at WIndgates stud requires some renovations.

“Stud farms of this calibre are rarely offered to the market in Kildare, which is known as the thoroughbred county. We experienced strong interest over the marketing campaign and the exceptional prices achieved reflect the quality of the product offered by Derrinstown Stud.”

Located quite closely together in the area between Celbridge, Maynooth and Straffan, both farms have excellent internal roads and all the fields are stud-railed. They also have close access to the M4 and M7 motorways and are close to major racecourses.

Windgates stud comprises of 53 acres.

The 104 acre Pickering stud was guided at in excess of €2.2m. It has a stable yard containing 29 loose boxes, a four-bay hayshed with a feed room, and a three-bay indoor arena. There is also an outdoor lunging ring, a six-bay horse walker and modern cattle handling facilities.

Guided at in the excess of €1.15m, the 53 acre Windgates Stud has mature hedges on all boundaries. The house, a two-storey four-bedroom farmhouse of c1,500ft2 in need of renovation, and yard are together but have separate entrances. The yard has 17 loose boxes and two all-weather turnout paddocks. There is also a staff room off the stables, a feed room and two stores.