Record-breaking sale of South Tipperary land
Former IFA Deputy President Micheal Slattery was the auctioneer wielding the gavel on the sale of a 45 acre tillage farm at Synone, Cashel, last Friday.
There was very keen bidding with the guide price of €600,000 passed swiftly, as three bidders took the land to €700,000, but it was eventually knocked down at €815,000, to Mr Ahern of Synone House: the equivalent of €18,111 per acre, and Mr Slattery pronounced himself very pleased with the result.
Mr Ahern, who sold part of his home farm at Passage, Co Cork for development, broke all sales records for 2003 with the purchase of Synone House, a 380 acre farm near Cashel.
According to the selling agent at the time, John Stokes of Stokes and Quirke, it was the first time a farmer had managed to outbid the bloodstock industry, and pay a record €25,000 per acre into the bargain. The original guide price given for Synone was €4.5m.
The Ahern family, who are believed to own other substantial holdings in Cork, Limerick and Tipperary, have moved a milk quota of 270,000 gallons to the Synone House farm.
The tillage farm sold last Friday at Synone is excellent quality limestone land, according to Mr Slattery, and while it’s not quite adjoining Mr Ahern’s property, it is close enough to be manageable.
