A 102ac non-residential farm on the outskirts of Dunderry village in Co Meath exceeded its guide price to the tune of €600,000 when it sold at auction just before Christmas, and caused quite a stir during the bidding.

There was a full auction room in the offices of Raymond Potterton Auctioneers in Navan on Tuesday, 17 December for the sale of the property with one bidder present in the room and two online bidders.

Guided in the region of €1.5m to €1.6m before the sale, bidding opened at €1.2m for this prime Royal county farm. A number of €100,000 bids brought it to €1.5m before it settled into a rhythm with bids rising in increments of €50,000.

With the price sitting at €2.05m, auctioneer Stephen Barry took a break to consult the vendors, following which it was put on the market.

There were six more bids before he brought the gavel down at €2.2m. This equates to €21,568/ac.

This per acre price put the property in line with a number of other properties in this area of Co Meath which sold in recent weeks and made anywhere from €18,000/ac to €24,000/ac.

An auctioneer purchased the land on behalf of a farming client and there were two other farmers bidding on the day.

Speaking to Irish Country Living after the auction, Stephen Barry said: “This was quite a way to end the year following a succession of sales in the Dunderry area and the farm was a credit to the family who were selling it.

“It was prime fertile land on the banks of the Clady River and it’s exceptional land on what I would say is one of the best veins of land in Co Meath.”