Best Land in Ireland

MFdaveIreland · 22-04-2014 8:51pm

Hi folks, someone made a comment about where British went first, I always thought the same, if you look where large estates are to this day you will fond some of the finest land,

Imo, Carrick on suir area was good to my memory as well as west cork, county down strangford Lough veg and tillage country, but with most coastal areas quite dry and sandy in places,

Louth supposed to be great land, but I always heard Meath being the best land in Ireland, serious field sizes and soil types

Genghis Cant · 22-04-2014 10:28pm

MFdaveIreland wrote: »

I always heard Meath being the best land in Ireland, serious field sizes and soil types

There's all sorts of land in Meath, from the best to the worst.
East of Navan is mainly very good.
A lot of bog around Ballivor, and Athboy.
Some poorish land over near Ashbourne, and more bog around Carlanstown.
Some great land around the lower Boyne valley around Slane Duleek areas.

tomwaterford · 22-04-2014 11:04pm

Genghis Cant wrote: »

There's all sorts of land in Meath, from the best to the worst.
East of Navan is mainly very good.
A lot of bog around Ballivor, and Athboy.
Some poorish land over near Ashbourne, and more bog around Carlanstown.
Some great land around the lower Boyne valley around Slane Duleek areas.

I think you find this situation in every county/area....even most farms have huge variations from one end to the other
I did read a long post somewhere before of the land was surveyed before Ireland entered Europe and most fertile areas mapped out

Conmaicne Mara · 22-04-2014 11:22pm

Genghis Cant wrote: »

There's all sorts of land in Meath, from the best to the worst.
East of Navan is mainly very good.
A lot of bog around Ballivor, and Athboy.
Some poorish land over near Ashbourne, and more bog around Carlanstown.
Some great land around the lower Boyne valley around Slane Duleek areas.

Was up there shooting one time, saw land I'd have rolled up, threw in the boot and brought home, and also saw pure bog bog.

Saw evidence of pretty poor farming in places too, a few places seemed intent on rabbit and thistle farming. Thistles to the extent we didn't go in them fields. They weren't piddly little fields like down my way either.

Genghis Cant · 22-04-2014 11:28pm

tomwaterford wrote: »

I think you find this situation in every county/area....even most farms have huge variations from one end to the other

Certainly in my own county (Offaly) there is huge variation. From top of the range to the blackest of bog.
Like you say, it's common enough, but there is great vanes of land in some areas.

MayoSalmon · 22-04-2014 11:31pm

Northern Ireland has the best land on this isle

Dickie10 · 23-04-2014 1:22am

northern Ireland seems to be very well farmed if not the best quality. I think we all know why, the elephant in the room, I live between athboy and ballivor. my aul lad was well guilty of thistle farming and others still pass no remarks , most fields are on average 20 acres within a 5 mile radius of me. I thnk the problem is or was more so that sheep and suckler farmers could make a decent profit from feck all land management due to understocking etc and a lot worked off farm so they were happy out and land got wild, a shame really.basically guys were keeping near the same amount of stock as men in mayo,longford, rosscommoon but on 100 acres plus of great land

MFdaveIreland · 23-04-2014 9:03am

I definitely wouldnt say ni land is the best , has to be Kilkenny area possibily Dublin too, very few real dry spots up north, nice land up round limavady Derry, mostly reclaimed from the Foyle,

darragh_haven · 23-04-2014 9:15am

MayoSalmon wrote: »

Northern Ireland has the best land on this isle

I do most of my work with farmers in northern Ireland and I wouldn't have any area in Northern Ireland in the top 3 areas on ths island.

neutralvu · 23-04-2014 1:13pm

darragh_haven wrote: »

I do most of my work with farmers in northern Ireland and I wouldn't have any area in Northern Ireland in the top 3 areas on ths island.

What are ur top 3? Very good discussoon going now on this thread, esp with the elephant in the room!

23-04-2014 2:16pm

My grandfather used to say that thistles only grow in good land!

Farmer Pudsey · 23-04-2014 2:36pm

6600 wrote: »

My grandfather used to say that thistles only grow in good land!

Yes the bigger the thistle that will grow the better the land.

Heard a story of a Cork farmers son named John that was being matched to the only daughter of a Limerick farmer. John after visiting the girl told the father that there was only thistle's on the land. His father enquired as to how big they were.

John replied that you could ''tie a horse to the thistle's'', whereupon he was told to marry the girl.

23-04-2014 2:41pm

Ha I used to hear stories like that. There's lots of thistles in Waterford!

Cattlepen · 23-04-2014 2:50pm

I think the best land in the country has all been built on.Livestock were kept in cities up until and including the first half of the last century.The manure they produced was spread on the land within a horses draw of the cities for hunddreds of years and so the soil benefitted from this conditioning

23-04-2014 3:20pm

Agreed, the land around Stillorgan and UCD must have been savage stuff. In fact all the suburbs must have been.

Cattlepen · 23-04-2014 3:27pm

Was reared on a farm in Clondalkin.The land was suitable for anything from dairying to vegetables.Very early land too.Live on kildare meath border now and the land is three to four weeks later.

bogman_bass · 23-04-2014 3:35pm

Conmaicne Mara wrote: »

Was up there shooting one time, saw land I'd have rolled up, threw in the boot and brought home, and also saw pure bog bog.

Saw evidence of pretty poor farming in places too, a few places seemed intent on rabbit and thistle farming. Thistles to the extent we didn't go in them fields. They weren't piddly little fields like down my way either.

If I knew you were on my land I'd have asked you in for tea Con!

Farrell · 23-04-2014 6:42pm

6600 wrote: »

Ha I used to hear stories like that. There's lots of thistles in Waterford!

Heard of a guy going to buy a farm in Meath, got to the gate & saw a large oak tree. Didn't go any further, bought it. When asked, oak trees only grow on good land, as they need good ground to hold them.

darragh_haven · 23-04-2014 7:13pm

neutralvu wrote: »

What are ur top 3? Very good discussoon going now on this thread, esp with the elephant in the room!

Louth meath border area. Large area of kilkenny. East cork. But this all depends on a persons parameters used for identifying "best land"

marc_faber · 23-04-2014 7:45pm

Cattlepen wrote: »

Was reared on a farm in Clondalkin.The land was suitable for anything from dairying to vegetables.Very early land too.Live on kildare meath border now and the land is three to four weeks later.

south east dublin has poor land , dublin - wicklow mountains area so i dont know if around UCD would be that fantastic

south west dublin around rathcoole etc is pure gold but the best of all is around north dublin , naul , swords etc , possibly the best land in all of ireland , most of it is developed now of course

county louth is very small but bar around hackballs cross , the land is almost universally good , percentage wise , its better than meath and considerably drier , meath land is very fertile but much of it is quite heavy , its great for potatoes but it wouldnt be my choice for milking cows

that would be around durrow in laois or much of kilkenny , a large chunk of cork as well where the land is free draining , some counties have a reputation for land which itself sustains high prices , meath was where the anglo gentry often lived so with all those estates , grew the reputation for unrivalled land , its largely untrue without in anyway deriding the royal county

marc_faber · 23-04-2014 7:47pm

MFdaveIreland wrote: »

Hi folks, someone made a comment about where British went first, I always thought the same, if you look where large estates are to this day you will fond some of the finest land,

Imo, Carrick on suir area was good to my memory as well as west cork, county down strangford Lough veg and tillage country, but with most coastal areas quite dry and sandy in places,

Louth supposed to be great land, but I always heard Meath being the best land in Ireland, serious field sizes and soil types

the british were always going to chose land close to a main port so slap bang in the middle of the country was out , the pale was the obvious choice , near the capital

Base price · 23-04-2014 7:55pm

darragh_haven wrote: »

Louth meath border area. Large area of kilkenny. East cork. But this all depends on a persons parameters used for identifying "best land"

Agree.
I knew of "market gardeners" around Rush, Lusk and Skerries making more money per acre on small areas of land than large dairy/beef enterprises were making.

Conmaicne Mara · 23-04-2014 8:12pm

bogman_bass wrote: »

If I knew you were on my land I'd have asked you in for tea Con!

We were pulling up to one field and I asked the lads where would I park? Oh just pull up onto the verge they said :eek: If you did that down my way you'd either sink or be beached up on a rock :pac: Got revenge in first by sending one of them out on some quaking bog to find a fox down here, never saw a face with less blood in it coming off it

micraX · 23-04-2014 8:37pm

Base price wrote: »

Agree.
I knew of "market gardeners" around Rush, Lusk and Skerries making more money per acre on small areas of land than large dairy/beef enterprises were making.

that is the best land in the country, sure look on google maps behind the main street in rush, all the topsoil/sand that was removed about ten years ago for building but nothing was build was all leveled out in the last few years to bring in back to agriculture.

liamv90 · 23-04-2014 9:43pm

hard to beat a winterage in the burren co clare.

Conor556 · 23-04-2014 10:08pm

The golden vale in tipp,, areas like golden, cashel, and new inn,, im working out there now and alot of big tillage and dairy farms around, since I started in early february ground has been able to handle 3000 gallon slurry tanks without damage except a bit around the gaps, granted i havnt seen alot of the areas ye have been talking about but is certanly the best that ive seen

Miname · 23-04-2014 10:33pm

A lot is down to the way its mantained. theres land in every county thats a credit to the lads farming it. the best ground in the country is the bit that makes you happy and hopefully a few quid. Like everything in life its just maybe suited to different things, whether that be views, dairying or even forestry.