The trend of land coming up for sale in the Blackwater Valley continues with the recent launch of a 112.9ac residential farm on the market by Fermoy-based auctioneer, Collins O’Meara. For sale by private treaty, the property at Ballinlovane, Ballyduff Upper, Co Waterford is perched on an elevated site in the heart of west Waterford. In two main divisions which are in close proximity, the lands are all in permanent pasture and free-draining, lending themselves to all types of agricultural activity.

It’s offered to the market in three lots with the entire available in Lot 1. The residence, yard and circa 100ac are included in Lot 2.

A functioning dairy farm until three years ago, the infrastructure is still in place. The land is all in grass and divided into well-proportioned paddocks with easy access to the farmyard. In the yard there are two traditional stone outbuildings, a four-span cattle shed with double lean-to, a 10-unit herringbone milking parlour, a five-span shed with lean-to, cubicles, automatic scrapers and tank, a silage slab, a concrete collecting yard and an open slurry pit.

The residence, Ballinlovane House, is a two-storey dwelling extending to about 1,900 sq ft. It requires renovation and modernisation.

There are four bedrooms and a bathroom on the first floor while the ground floor consists of a kitchen, sitting room, dining room and living room.

The property has its own well water supply. Lot 3 comprises a 12.9ac block of ground that is located directly behind the village. In grass, it is divided into two fields and fronts onto three roads.

Two of these are local roads while the third is the R666 that links the picturesque Waterford village with Fermoy.

Despite this road frontage, this parcel of land has a very steep gradient so development potential could prove challenging.

There are 42.25 entitlements which have a current value in the region of €5,000. The house and yard are within 2km of the village of Ballyduff while Lismore and Fermoy are 12km and 19km away, respectively.

Speaking about the property, auctioneer, David Collins says: “This is a rare opportunity to purchase a holding of this scale in a highly-desirable location.

“This is exceptional land, even with all the rain we had in early November, we were able to drive over it.

“The house is a bit dated but it is habitable and with the availability of the Vacant Property Refurbishment Grant, there’s a good opportunity for the purchaser to put their own stamp on it.”

He is guiding this farm overlooking the Blackwater Valley at €13,500/ac.