MONKS in the Roscrea college where Taoiseach Brian Cowen
was educated have decided to sell a 200-acre farm, partly because of
falling vocations.
Annaville, described by auctioneers as "a farm of
historical and spiritual significance", is to be put up for sale by
public auction next month. The guide price is €2.3 million.
The Cistercian Order farm over 800 acres of land in the fertile south Offaly region.
Annaville, in Co Tipperary, is an outlying holding from their main dairy farm.
It has been used for livestock and arable farming.
"Due to the diminishing numbers of monks available to manage their farming enterprises, and also their wish to develop monastery buildings, the monks have reluctantly decided to sell Annaville," said Anne-Louise Mitchell of selling agents Victor Mitchell Auctioneers, Roscrea.
Monastery spokesman and author, Dom Laurence Walsh said Annaville— known to the monks as "Bulfins" — had a very special place in the hearts of the monks.
"In the heyday of the community, 40 or 50 monks would walk there in single file carrying their forks and, in one round, turn a whole field of hay, or stook a field of oats, all in silence," said Dom Walsh.
He recalled a memorable day for the monastery on August 20, 1953, when the entire community of 120 monks went to Annaville by lorry and tractor-trailers.
He said Annaville had been an integral part of the monks farm and a major contributor to the economy of their Mount Saint Joseph Abbey in Roscrea down through the years.
The farm is enhanced by a period gate lodge.
The holding includes a traditional walled garden, housing for over 400 animals and fodder storage and animal handling facilities.
It is situated in the townland of Ballykilleen in the southern tip of Co Offaly.
The nearby Mount Saint Joseph’s College is the alma mater of Taoiseach Brian Cowen who was a boarder there in the 1970s.
The Cistercian Order farm over 800 acres of land in the fertile south Offaly region.
Annaville, in Co Tipperary, is an outlying holding from their main dairy farm.
It has been used for livestock and arable farming.
"Due to the diminishing numbers of monks available to manage their farming enterprises, and also their wish to develop monastery buildings, the monks have reluctantly decided to sell Annaville," said Anne-Louise Mitchell of selling agents Victor Mitchell Auctioneers, Roscrea.
Monastery spokesman and author, Dom Laurence Walsh said Annaville— known to the monks as "Bulfins" — had a very special place in the hearts of the monks.
"In the heyday of the community, 40 or 50 monks would walk there in single file carrying their forks and, in one round, turn a whole field of hay, or stook a field of oats, all in silence," said Dom Walsh.
He recalled a memorable day for the monastery on August 20, 1953, when the entire community of 120 monks went to Annaville by lorry and tractor-trailers.
He said Annaville had been an integral part of the monks farm and a major contributor to the economy of their Mount Saint Joseph Abbey in Roscrea down through the years.
The farm is enhanced by a period gate lodge.
The holding includes a traditional walled garden, housing for over 400 animals and fodder storage and animal handling facilities.
It is situated in the townland of Ballykilleen in the southern tip of Co Offaly.
The nearby Mount Saint Joseph’s College is the alma mater of Taoiseach Brian Cowen who was a boarder there in the 1970s.