House of the week

Rare land, house, bog, commonage and island sale in Kerry’s Derrynane harbour will stir interest.

Slices of heaven, Kerry style, along the Ring of Kerry go for auction in late September, with a mix that includes an island with beaches, an old farm house, derelict dwellings, small and stoney fields, and some commonage — something for every dreamer, and more than a few lots for the neighbours too.

An executor sale on behalf of the late local bachelor farmer, Florence Donnelly, sees 83 acres high above, and right down at sea level at Derrynane harbour all up for grabs.

Super-scenic Derrynane, with its horseshoe harbour, back beach, national park and the OPW-run home of Daniel O’Connell is one of the Ring’s gems, and has traditionally been hugely popular with Cork and Limerick families for up-market holiday homes — like a sort of outpost for county ex-pats.

However, according to agent Sean Daly of Sherry FitzGerald Daly in Kenmare, while activity and houses in Derrynane rocketed in value in the boom, getting any sort of planning permission now to build is extremely unlikely, hence the likely interest in the main house lot with its spectacular harbour and Scarriff Islands view, in the Sept 25 auction of 11 lots.

Most visible of the lots, by navigation markers for visiting yachts is Lambs’ Island, in the middle of Derrynane harbour. This low-level 12 acre island, Lot I, has been used for summer grazing and can be waded out to at low tide from the pier and beach, where there is a long-established watersports centres. The island is tightly protected and is a Special Area of Conservation under the European Protected Areas, while many of the other lots have other scenic/amenity zoning protections.

Thus, the most valuable lot, guided at just €150,000, is the three-bed old fashioned two-storey farm dwelling (pic right), with oil heating, with some old stone buildings with corrugated roofs and hay-barn in front of the view, all crying out for restoration, adaptation and enhancement, subject to planning permission. There’s already holiday home interest in this lot, according to Mr Daly, and it includes the old stone remains of an early 1800s dwelling, most recently used for housing animals.

Other lots range from a single acre or two to mixed land, mountain bog and commonage, at prices from €500 to €5,000 an acre depending on their size, setting and quality. No total value has been put on the entire 11 lots — to be decided on the day of auction.

“Mr Donnelly was a bachelor, who didn’t drink, and he loved his land, and would buy small bits as it came along, and enjoyed walking his fields, right down to the sea,” notes Sean Daly. Now, he reckons, no one single buyer will be interested in all the 11 lots, and some will be locals keen to buy an acre or two alongside their own fields or homes, “even if just to stop a shed being built on it,” adds the agent.

Townlands span Coomatloukane and Bunavalla, with Bunavalla pier 1.3 miles away, Waterville is five miles over the dramatic headland with Skellig views, and Caherdaniel is three and a half miles from this motley collection of gem-set Ring of Kerry lots.

LOCATION: Caherdaniel, Kerry

PRICE: €150,000 main lot

SIZE: Sq m 80 (870 sq ft)

BEDROOMS: 3

BER RATING: G

BATHROOMS: 1

BEST ASSET: Heavenly country

VERDICT: You can expect all types at the Sept 25 auction, from holiday home hunters and soft-eyed romantics to hard-nosed, weather-beaten, but no less land-loving farmers.