Prominent midlands farm sells for over €2m at public auction

A 221 acre farm outside Tullamore, originally owned by the Armstrong family who made their fortune in linen production, has been sold for €2.2m at auction.

Kilclare Demense Estate loacted in Kilclare, Durrow was sold by Padraic Murtagh from James L. Murtagh in Mullingar. It was purchased by the accountant Michael Kinsella who was acting in trust for a client. The entire lot opened at €1.8m but went up in increments of €25,000 until it was sold for over €2m. The sale of the farm worked out at €10,000 per acre.

The auction took place recently in the Tullamore Court Hotel and was attended by around 30 people which is a “good attendance” for an auction according to Padraic Murtagh. There were four individual bidders and there was lots of interest in the estate prior to its purchase. Mr Murtagh said: "The sale demonstrates the demand for agricultural land and larger blocks."

Originally owned by the Armstrong family, the property contains the remains of Belview House, the original family home of the Armstrongs. Among the many built features are two large walled enclosures or walled gardens and a limestone tower, a folly in the form of a monastic round tower built in 1817 on an esker with stunning views of the surrounding countryside. There is a bell-shaped entrance with wrought iron gates which opens onto a short avenue leading to the farmyard.

The estate was sold and divided in 1912 under the 1909 Land Act. The house was subsequently abandoned and is now in ruins.

The land was farmed by the Bracken family for many years and in recent times was let out on a yearly basis.

The 221ac farm is all in one rectangular block bounded by the Brosna River at one side and by a local road at the other where an old dry-stone wall runs the length of the boundary.

The land is in old pasture stretching out over a series of hillocks and vales of free-draining ground. A bell-shaped entrance with wrought-iron gates opens to a short avenue leading to the farmyard.