Described as a “cracking farm for a young farmer”, a 48-acre residential farm at Mullagh, Coole, Co Westmeath, sold under the hammer last week for €442,000.

Located on the outskirts of Coole village, the property came to the market with 48 acres of top-quality land, a fine bungalow residence and a tidy range of farm buildings. At the auction, selling agent Murtagh Bros, Mullingar, opened the bidding at €300,000, which steadily progressed in €10,000 increments to €400,000.

After consultation with the vendors, it was decided to declare the farm on the market at €400,000, which was being chased by just two local landowners.

Although bids as low as €2,000 were taken, the hammer eventually fell at €442,000 to one of the locals. This works out at €9,200/acre including the house and yard. The property was guided in the region of €350,000 prior to auction.

The farm was used throughout the years to graze cattle and sheep. The land is laid out in four rolling grass fields, which reportedly haven’t an inch of waste. The property came with a four-bed bungalow residence and a tidy farmyard that included a number of sheep sheds, a machinery shed and a haybarn.

Postponed

Meanwhile, last week’s scheduled auction of a 68-acre non-residential farm at Moatfarrell, Edgeworthstown, Co Longford, was postponed at the last minute. It’s also understood that this week’s auction (28 October) of a 110-acre residential holding at Ardandra, Legan, Co Longford, has been postponed too. Murtagh Bros, Mullingar, is handling both sales and is confident of rescheduling both of these auctions before the end of this year.