Up to 60 people packed into the Bridge House Hotel in Tullamore for the auction of a 133.5-acre non-residential farm at Killeenmore and Aughanrush, Killeigh, Co Offaly, last week.

Described as an “exceptional farm”, the land is renowned in the area for its superior quality and was used for tillage and grazing down through the years.

A nice level of interest over the past six weeks materialised into a lively auction last Friday, which saw the property sell in three lots for a combined total of €1.439m, or an average price of €10,700/acre.

On the day, selling agent Gordon Cobbe from GVM Auctioneers, Tullamore, initially offered the farm in three separate lots of 48.5 acres, 2.5 acres and 82.5 acres. After the first round of bidding, the lots arrived at a combined total of €1.12m, while the entire received a single bid of €1.2m.

Further bids

The second round of bidding saw further movement in the lots but the entire remained stagnant at €1.2m. After a period of consultation, Gordon was instructed to put the farm on the market in lots and withdraw the entire. With that, the first lot comprising 48.5 acres at Killeenmore was knocked down at €540,000 to a local farmer; the 2.5-acre field, also at Killeenmore, sold for €74,000 to a local. The biggest section, comprising 82.5 acres of stubble ground at Aughanrush, was snapped up by a Co Meath farmer for €825,000.

This gave a combined total of €1.439m. There were three to four bidders on each of the first two lots with just two bidders on the 82.5 acres.

Situated off the main Tullamore-Portlaoise road, the farm has been let out for the past number of years and was guided in the region of €9,000 to €10,000/acre prior to auction.

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