Equestrian and dairy buyers fought it out for individual parcels of 152ac of prime Curragh land on Tuesday 7 October.
Auctioneer Liam Reilly brought the hammer down on Fearaun House in Suncroft, Co Kildare, for a combined total of €3.23m, 40% higher than its guide of €2.3m.
The farm was offered in the following lots:
Proceedings opened in the Beech Room at the Keadeen Hotel, Newbridge, with the auctioneer explaining the sale process.
“We may come back a couple of times on lot 1, 2 and 3, but when it goes to lot 4, it won't be going back to people who have individual bids on if the entire exceeds the price,” he said.
But as it transpired, it was every bidder for themselves, with no interest in taking the holding as a whole.
Lot 1 opened at €1m, with a flurry of bids from the back of the room before settling at €1.25m. Lot 2 opened and held at €1m with a bidder at the front. After several calls, lot 3 opened at €250,000 before being bid to €370,000, where the price held.
At this point, another round was taken of the lots, with no advance on lot 1. Lot 2 took off as a bidder at the back of the room countered the existing bid and an intense exchange saw the price pushing to €1.52m. Lot 3 held at €370,000.
Following vendor consultation, one final round was taken of the individual lots. Competition reignited on lot 1 and the bids flew in between several bidders at the back of the room, pushing the price to €1.34m, where it held. Lots 2 and 3 saw no further bids.
At this point, the entire was offered, but there were no takers, so the farm was knocked down to the individual bidders.
Fearaun House was sold on behalf of the Irish Cancer Society, which was administering the estate of the late Moira and Noel Kenny. The total sale prices equates to a price of €21,250/ac, some 28% higher than the county average, according to the Irish Farmers Journal Land Report.
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