Man with Limerick connections close to agreeing sale of Conor Pass

A MAN with Limerick connections is nearing a deal with the government for the sale of the iconic Conor Pass in County Kerry.

Many have been speculating online that if the State is to buy the Conor Pass it would make another picturesque national park.

The Conor Pass initially had a price tag of €10m for approximately 1,400 acres of what is considered to feature some of Ireland’s most breathtaking landscapes.

American Mike Noonan, whose family are originally from Galbally, owns the land.

Speaking last year on RTÉ’s Liveline, Mr Noonan told Kate Hannon that “sometimes when you get older you have to see what you can and can’t do and it’s time for me to move on”.

The landowner said he decided to sell the land as he wanted to spend more time with his grandchildren and family.

Mr Noonan began buying the land of Conor Pass a little over 25 years ago. He started by buying six farms.

The Conor Pass is a unique landscape in west Kerry that is all too familiar to many in Limerick who are fond of visiting or holidaying in west Kerry.

When Mr Noonan announced that he was selling the Conor Pass, many locals were concerned about what that would mean for west Kerry.

Micháel O'Dowd, owner of O’Connor’s Bar and Guesthouse near the pass, called it a perfect place for the government to create a greenway. “If we look up and down the country where the government is trying to put in greenways, they have difficulties with farmers. They could put a greenway in here no bother,” Mr O’Dowd said.

“We’re going to put fierce pressure on the government to help us because we’re a community that is dying here. I mean it.”

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When Mr O’Dowd was growing up in Cloghane, where his business is based, there were nine pubs in the area and now there are currently three.

“If it became a national park, it would be a huge, huge boost to our local economy. Not alone to our own local economy but the population of the county really. People would like to go see wild parks and recreational areas like what we have here,” he added.

One of the more prominent features of the Conor Pass are the hundreds of sheep that graze on the land. All the sheep on the Conor Pass land belong to Mr Noonan.

What happens to the sheep will “depend on the sale”.

“Right now we are looking at opportunities. We’ll sell them off if the person who buys it wants to manage their own sheep on the property,” Mr Noonan told Liveline.