Magheramore Access Land Sold For €700,000

Sun over beach…

alls for Wicklow County Council to buy Magheramore beach access land have fallen on deaf ears.

At an online auction, the asking price of €210,000 was passed considerably when the site was bought for €700,000.

The 20-acre site includes a well-worn pathway that led to the popular Wicklow beach, situated between Blainroe and Brittas Bay, and considered by many to be the best spot for surfing along Ireland’s east coast.

That it’s a somewhat sheltered enclave without a shelf made it hugely popular with families too.

Sold by BidX1 auctioneers, a Wicklow County Council spokesperson stated that they bid for the land but were unsuccessful. The auctioneers declined to reveal who bought the land – sold by a couple living in Dublin – but all signs point to a private purchase.

There were five bidders involved in the auction, which started at 8am this morning, with two remaining once the €550,000 threshold was passed.

With access to some beaches along Wicklow and further along the east coast having become restricted in recent years, there has long been growing concern around the sale of the Magheramore site that this holiday hotspot will no longer be available to the public.

Originally owned by the Columan Order of Sisters – these religious fecks being Ireland’s biggest landowners – they sold the site in the 1980s, the property changing hands several times since. In 2014, a Private Property: Trespassers Will Be Prosecuted sign was erected. And promptly ignored.

For Greystones’ Catherine O’Reilly of Sherry FitzGerald auctioneers, this was, she told The Irish Times, “the most talked about story in Co Wicklow” in recent weeks, and the €700,000 sale was “a massive price” for such 20 acres, even if the location is undeniably spectacular.

The fact that the right of way doesn’t appear to be registered – WCC having voted against including 50 of them in their 2004 County Development Plan after pressure from the Irish Farmers Association – and local politicians, from Harris to Brady, have expressed their anger at the possibility now that Magheramore beach will no longer be accessible to the public.

We have a feeling there may be trouble ahead…

P.S. To ease road parking, a local landowner has agreed to provide parking at Magheramore. So, respect it.