Re: Re: Dundalk

Lord Roden to sell freehold of Dundalk

The Roden estate is selling its rights in Dundalk to include ground rents, mineral and other rights, leases, and manorial rights. There’s even some capital value from an uncertain number of small sites around the town and portions of waste-ground which have never been leased. Rose Doyle reports

It will be an historic sale – not to mention an interesting and bizarre one – when the freehold of the town of Dundalk goes for sale by public tender on July 21st.

The town’s new owner will have rights to its ground rents, to mineral and other rights, to title documents, leases, maps which include a large and valuable 18th century estate map, and to manorial rights.

The not-unimportant last will give the owner the right to call their home, modest or otherwise, the manor of Dundalk. There is even, according to auctioneer Anthony McArdle of McArdle and Son, Dundalk, “some capital value involved”.

This last would come from the collection of active ground rents, in the region of 100 in number and payable by such as homeowners and a number of breweries, and an uncertain number of small sites around the town, portions of waste-ground which have never been leased.

All is at the moment part of the Roden estate, itself an interesting job lot in the ownership of the 9th heir to Lord Roden.

Dundalk’s ownership story began in the 16th century when King Charles II of England gave the town to Lord Dungannon. Dungannon, in the following century, sold to Lord Limerick, the Earl of Clanbrassil and the man responsible for developing much of the town. Later in that 17th century the property passed on to Lord and Lady Roden.

It has remained with the Roden estate ever since, passing from one generation to the next. The present Lord and Lady Roden are trustees of the estate, live in Galway, and want to dispose of their assets in the estate.

Anthony McArdle, with some understatement, admits that a sale like this one is unusual. “It’s a curiosity and there’s no AMV; the highest tender will secure. There are definitely about three-to-four small sites vacant in the town, yards and such which could be used for construction purposes. The market rights are another part of the sale, though of indeterminate worth. Ground rents are payable yearly, some residential houses paying about €3 per year and larger sites used by breweries, like Harp Larger on Carrick Road and the former site of McArdle Moore, paying more. All of these ground rents can be bought out by those renting at any time.”

McArdle points out that Don McDonagh of McDonagh Matthews and Breen, on Distillery Lane, Dundalk has “boxes and boxes of title documents, including Ordnance Survey maps of the Roden estate, available for inspection – though not the estate map which is too valuable to have on public display.”

Prospective purchasers are advised by McArdle to carry out “a meticulous inspection and satisfy themselves as to what they’re getting. It could make money for someone, depending on what’s established. We have lots of historical and archaeological experts expressing interest.”