Dairy farmer purchases historic Clare property for €1.65million at auction

THE NEW owner of the famed Doonass House in Clonlara is following in the footsteps of Benjamin Weissman, a son of the first president of Israel; Sir Hugh Dillon-Massy and many others before the 18th century Georgian mansion was gutted by fire in 2009.

The remains of the period residence and 116 acres was brought to auction by GVM’s Richard Ryan earlier this month. Twenty people were in attendance at GVM’s Limerick city auction rooms for the sale of “a truly outstanding roadside farm”.

“The lands are considered excellent quality with the majority in permanent pasture laid out in rolling parkland with many mature trees and extensive frontage to the River Shannon. The remaining lands comprise of mature woodland.

“The shell of the main residence an impressive eighteenth-century Georgian mansion remains together with a gate lodge by the main entrance. To the rear of the house is a very impressive courtyard of outbuildings in cut limestone,” said Mr Ryan.

It was the ancestral home of the Massy family who arrived in Ireland as part of Cromwell's New Model Army. The fortunes of the Massys suffered badly during the Great Famine and much of the Doonass estate was sold off in the encumbered estate sales.

Interestingly, during the construction of the dam at Ardnacrusha, part of the Shannon water scheme, a group of eighteen German engineers, scientists, and electricians lived in Doonass House.

The Germans operated a sideline business from the house supplying wine from their homeland. In 1926, they received a court summons after 1,400 bottles of wine were seized from the two cellars in the basement of the house.

A couple of bottles may have been opened after the auction which commenced with an opening bid of €1m. This was followed up by 11 €50,000 bids from three on site bidders to reach €1,550,000, at which stage there was a recess.

On returning after the recess, Mr Ryan stated that he had received instructions from the vendors and declared the property was on the market.

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It took four more €25,000 bids before his gavel came down at €1,650,000 to a dairy farmer from County Clare. The other bidders are believed to have been a businessman from the area with farming interests and another dairy farmer.

Commenting after the auction, Mr Ryan said that he was very happy with the price achieved.

“It shows that land values remained strong throughout the year, with great confidence in land from both farmers and investors,” said Mr Ryan, who added that he has a number of disappointed under bidders who are looking for similar type farms.