Laois is home to the hottest property on the market in recent times, with the news that Ballagh Castle is going up for auction.
The sale includes far more than just the castle however, with the full 63-acre farm near Errill in the south of the county available for purchase.
In all, the sale takes in the farm, the castel, a farmhouse, gardens, and an equestrian yard.
It’s being sold by Property Partners Mansfield and is going for auction with a guide price of €1.2 million.
The farm sits on the L5538, a quiet local road, 2.5km from Errill village and 7km from Rathdowney.
The house and yard are together, at the side of the road, and the tall castle is 50m away in the middle of the adjoining field.
This farm was formerly the training yard of Cathy Harrison – jockey, owner, trainer and breeder – and her daughter Katy, also an amateur jockey.
Cathy owned and trained National Hunt winners in a time when female jockeys were not the norm.
The two-storey house is approximately 2,150 square feet, with three bedrooms, two office/storage rooms, two bathrooms, an open plan kitchen-dining-living space, a sitting room, spacious halls, and usable attic space.
The gardens include stone walls and pathways, mature rose bushes, fruit and nut trees, flower beds, and a large polytunnel.
The yard has 18 purpose-built stables, a tack room and stocks in an enclosed yard. There are also two large barns, a large workshop and a second enclosed yard with a crush.
Castle Ballagh is a five-story tower castle, believed to have been constructed in the 1500s.
The sale goes to auction on Wednesday, September 25 in the Manor Hotel, Abbeyleix at 3pm. It will be offered in lots as follows:
- Lot 1 is the house, gardens, yard and castle on c18ac.
- Lot 2 is c23ac with extensive road frontage.
- Lot 3 is c22ac facing lots 1 and 2 from across the public road. It includes 3ac of forestry at the rear.
- Lot 4 is the entire property.
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