A circa 99ac residential dairy farm with a rich history has come on the market in Co Armagh with Markethill-based Hewitt Property Agents. For sale by private treaty, Elm Park Estate, 22 Tonnagh Road, Armagh is an attractive blend of old world and modern.

Dating back to the mid-1600s, the estate house now stands in ruin but from 1921 to 1954 the farm was home to the former Elm Park Country House & Preparatory School for boys.

The modern facilities lie in the shadow of the ruins yet a number of mementos of its past are visible, including stone-cut offices and a walled garden extending to almost 2ac.

The agricultural land extends to circa 80ac and is adjacent to the farmyard. Accessed by a series of farm roadways, it is renowned as some of the highest quality farmland in the area and parts of it can be grazed all year round.

Also included in this impressive holding is an area extending to circa 19ac of mature woodland. Consisting of native trees, the woods encompass a picturesque glen and running stream.

Modern farm structures

A combination of modern farm structures with older cut-stone farm buildings, the yard has a number of feed bins and silos.

A retirement sale, this is a working dairy farm, ready for the successful purchaser to move in to. Within the yard there is accommodation for 100 cows and 70 followers. There are silos and numerous loose boxes for calves. The milking facilities consist of a 10/20 swing over parlour and there is an 8,000L bulk tank.

A modern farmhouse comprises of five bedrooms, a pair of reception rooms and a country kitchen. The farm lies 2km miles north of the village of Killylea and less than 10km from Armagh city.

A dispersal sale of the farm’s herd of 140 head of dairy stock will take place on Tuesday, 19 March in Markethill Mart. The sale includes 100 young cows and heifers in-milk, 20 in-calf heifers and 20 in-calf cows.

The house and yard are located in the centre of the property.
The land is excellent quality and all in grass.

Predominately Fleckvieh-cross cows, there are also 20 pedigree cows included in the sale and a small number are Holstein. The milk solids for the herd have averages of 4.1% for butterfat and 3.15 protein.

A spring calving herd, the in-calf heifers and young cows are in-calf to Red Angus AI and are exceptionally quiet. The young stock, consisting of 40 maiden heifers aged four to eight months old, will be sold in Markethill Mart on Tuesday, 2 April, while the machinery will be offered in a timed auction in late April.

There are a lot in of interesting features within this package – a modern house with five bedrooms, an imposing former estate house and a modern dairy farm. This property is expected to guided in the region of £3m (€3.5m).