There appears to be a domino effect happening in west Kerry as a third large land holding on the Dingle peninsula has just been put on the market.

Comprising of 1,208ac of land, it is situated in the townland of Maghanveel, Brandon and is for sale by private treaty.

This follows the well-publicised 1,400ac block of land at the nearby Connor Pass. It is understood the state is considering buying this land. Another large holding,within a few kilometres of the Connor Pass farm — the 450ac Owenmore Fishery — has gone sale agreed and speculation in the locality is that it was purchased by the state.

A haven for wildlife, the area is located on the eastern slopes of the Brandon peaks.

Breathtaking

McQuinn Property Services, Tralee is handling the sale and auctioneer Eamonn McQuinn described it as a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to own a significant expanse of stunning mountain land, in a truly breathtaking area.

On the eastern side of Mount Brandon peaks, the land is well-fenced, sheltered from prevailing weather from the west and has two well-maintained central roads to provide vehicular access.

All in one block, another unique feature is that while a lot of similar type land in Ireland is in commonage, this property is freehold.

A rich natural habitat area and haven for wildlife, this rare opportunity offers outstanding possibilities to be used for EU schemes and to this end, there are BISS entitlements included in the sale.

Given CAP payments are now environmentally focused, this could be a factor at play for anyone considering purchasing the land.

conservation

A portion of the area is in a Special Area of Conservation (SAC) and it has Environmentally Sensitive Permanent Grasslands (ESPG) habitats.

Roughly 20km from Dingle and 42km from Tralee, it can be reached via a pair of well-maintained vehicular access roads and is about a 10-minute drive from Cloghane Village.

The area was the scene of a number of plane crashes by both allied and German planes during the Second World War.

The first was a Luftwaffe Focke Wulf 200 Condor aircraft that was completing a weather reconnaissance off the west coast of Ireland in 1940. Parts of some of the aircraft remain on the slopes to this day.

No doubt there will be plenty of speculation as to who will be in the mix when it comes to the purchase of this land that is guided at €1.8m.

Eamonn McQuinn says there is likely to be strong local and national interest in it, especially given the publicity generated by the Connor Pass land.