'More please!' Auctioneer seeks more land in Kildare after big price is fetched

The 30.6 acres near Monasterevin was to be sold in five lots

placeholder image — The 30.6 acres near Monasterevin was to be sold in five lots

Sold for an average of €15k per acre

A Portarlington based auctioneer is looking for more land in Kildare after a farmer snapped up 30 acres last week.

The 30.6 acres of land at Mountrice near Monasterevin was put up for sale in five lots at a public auction held in the Keadeen Hotel on Tuesday, April 8.

The parcels of land were divided into Lot 1: 10.18 acres, good arable land, Lot 2: 10.49 acres, good grass with road frontage, Lot 3: 4.72 acres, marginal land, Lot 4: 2.52 acres, access into pony paddock and Lot 5: 2.69 acres, good land for house subject to planning permission.

After two rounds of bidding during which €200,000 was offered for Lot 1, consisting of 10.18 acres of arable land, auctioneer Matt Dunne was asked to sell all five lots as one.

The land was then sold off as one single lot for €460,000, or €15,000 per acre.

Mr Dunne was then instructed by the purchaser, who was a local farmer, to put Lot 4 and Lot 5 back on the auction block. These were then bought for a total of €75,000.

Describing it as “a great day’s work,” Mr Dunne said it was great “to have everybody happy, all I now need is more land in Kildare for disappointed underbidders.”

He is looking for more people interested in selling land in Kildare due to the level of interest in the auction.