€8,000 per acre sought for 52-acre farm near Macroom

Located close to Macroom, in the townland of Coolacoosane, a 30-acre non-residential holding listed with the Macroom office of the CCM Property Network will be one to watch in the coming weeks, as a measuring stick that will give some indication of the agricultural land market in this key part of Munster.

The location approximately 8km north of Macroom and close to the village of Ballinagree (which is 4km to the north-east) is at a crossroads of sorts, with much of the lands to the south having achieved strong prices in recent years while, to the north of this holding, lies a zone of North Cork where farmland prices are more modest.

This is also a part of Munster renowned for its megalithic tombs and monuments.

In fact, it is regarded as one of the richest areas in Ireland for such treasures.

Millstreet is 16km away, Banteer is a 24km drive, while Cork city lies approximately 40km to the east of this farm.

Another string to the bow of this part of Ireland, and one more directly relevant to its agricultural heritage, is that a number of prominent ploughing champions have emerged from here.

The famous sportsman, the “Bould Thady Quill” and champion ploughman Jerry Horgan, are just two local examples of this powerful tradition, and there are monuments erected in their honour in the vicinity.

“It’s an area that is synonymous with good farming practices and famous ploughmen in their day,” says selling agent Jerh O’Sullivan, who notes that the ploughing tradition continues with the Delaney family today.

With the farm coming on the market just before the National Ploughing Championships kick off, it’s a coincidence that might heighten interest in this holding.

The land is of good quality, according to the selling agents, an undulating property but one where great care has been taken over the years and from which silage is cut without any difficulty.

“It’s a very sheltered farm,” says Jerh. “It has some trees growing around it, which makes it more sheltered than many of the farms surrounding it.

It’s a good grassland farm. At the moment, it’s a dairy farmer that is farming it. It’s all laid out in paddocks and watered, and farmed to a very high standard by the current tenant.

This lease for the current tenant is coming to an end, and the owner is putting it on the market.

According to Jerh, it would be best suited to activities other than tillage.

“It’s coming to the market in great condition and in good heart. There’s a lot of local interest in it and it would lend itself to any grassland-type activity, beef, sheep or dairy farming.”

The property can be offered in more than one lot, depending on how demand pans out, with further details available from the selling agents for those who are interested.

The farm is divided naturally in two parts which are only 100 metres or so apart.

There aren’t any farm buildings on the property, the last owner having knocked whatever old buildings that were, in order to improve the land quality.

The price guide is pitched at €400,000, or approximately €8,000 per acre. Given its overall location, this is about correct, one would imagine. It is, however, a sizeable piece of land in good order so it may very well exceed such expectations.