Ideal dairy set-up guide priced at €8.5m
This is the farm the O’Mearas built. Tim O’Meara, who died last September, was a huge force, not only in his local community, but also in the IFA. It was said fondly of him that he was chairman of everything locally, except the ICA.
His son Sean, was chairman of the Farm Apprenticeship scheme for five years, and is one of the most progressive dairy farmers in the country.
Two years ago his 200-plus herd was wiped out by brucellosis, and Sean and his wife Geraldine found themselves with time on their hands.
“It was the first time in our lives we didn’t have cows to look after, we had seven months in which we had time to take an interest in other things. I’ve turned 60 lately, and I feel it’s time to follow up on the interests we began in 2004, and to get the quality of life we haven’t had time to pursue up until now.”
Sean and his wife Geraldine will continue to farm, but drystock only. They have already purchased a holding nearby, in the Shinrone area, and will build a house there.
They are selling the farm because it’s ideally set up for dairying, says Sean, with state-of-the-art equipment, such as a 28 unit herringbone milking parlour, a collection yard for up to 300 cows and a 12,000 litre bulk tank with automatic washer.
The residential holding is sure to set another record for auctioneer Paddy Jordan of Jordan Town and Country Estate Agents, who last month sold Pass House Farm at Portlaoise for €17.2 million, from a standing start of €5 million.
This time round, he is offering a little over the same amount of land, but with a hefty quota of 262,500 gallons.
Pass House Farm was a tillage and beef enterprise with 275 acres, and made the equivalent of €62,000 per acre.
Scorduff also includes a precious milk quota, and €44,000 per annum of entitlements in the sort of package that will bring cash-rich dairy farmers running. The guide price of €8.5 million should sort the wheat from the chaff for the July 21 auction.
It’s a sure bet there will be plenty of prospective purchasers looking to walk the land in Co Offaly.
That’s something the vendors are used to, having hosted a number of Teagasc open days, as well as groups from the Irish Grassland Association and Macra na Feirme.
Sean O’Meara is well known around the country and his sister, Kathleen, is a Labour Party senator, and is a triplet as well as identical twin of RTE reporter Aileen O’Meara.
The farm has been in the family for almost 100 years, and according to Paddy Jordan, it’s one of the finest working farms to come on the market for some time.
The pasture land has a limestone base, there’s a network of farm roadways, and water is piped to each paddock. It’s in the top 10% in the country, says Mr Jordan and has been run by Tim and Sean O’Meara with the help of farm apprentices over the years.
The land has been re-seeded over the last 10 years, and there’s about two acres under concrete in the yard, which is built and is run to current best practice. The property has two residences on offer, which might be an added attraction for a father and son team, as both houses offer good living accommodation, although the older residence will need some renovation, according to the agent.
The first is a large, modern bungalow of 2,500 square feet and the second, the original farmhouse, has 2,000 square feet of space. The bungalow has substantial living accommodation, including two reception rooms, a kitchen and breakfast room, an office, utility, four bathrooms and five bedrooms, of which two are en suite.
The other farmhouse, which is used for staff accommodation, has a sitting room, living room, and kitchen with three bedrooms, a bathroom and two attic rooms.
The houses are surrounded by mature oak and beech in a quiet, secluded location.
Buyers could also come from the greater Dublin area, as the expanding city pushes farmers into other counties. Scorduff Farm is four miles from Roscrea, just off the Birr road.
The river Brosna bounds the southern side of the property.
