Ballingarrane House, a Clonmel, Co Tipperary estate with 280 acres has been sold in a private auction for over £3.5 million. The 18th century mansion is owned by the former Irish Olympic three-day event rider, John Watson and his wife Julia. Three bidders chased the property at an "invitation only" auction conducted at the house by Ganly Walters and Sotheby's International Realty.

The sale comes at the end of a "terrific" year for country property, according to Robert Ganly of the selling agents. "Compared to previous years the supply of quality country houses was considerably up and we're attributing that to the "millennium factor". What happened for a lot of people was that they got to the year 2000 and said, "let's make the change now", he said.

The result has been an exceptionally buoyant market, with more high quality country properties for sale than had been seen in over a decade. Significantly, some of the estates offered for sale hadn't been on the open market for decades, or in some cases, centuries. Ballingarrane House is a case in point. It had been in the same family since the original house was built in 1797.

The country house market is attracting a broad range of buyers, from investors looking for large parcels of land for future development, to private buyers seeking solid Georgian houses on 20 to 50 acres within a two hour drive of Dublin, or close to an international airport.

"There is still a very big market for this type of property," says Robert Ganly. "There is also a very strong market for good large blocks of land, 200 acres plus. The demand is coming from people who have sold out for development and are looking to reinvest." Although a large number of estate houses and farms changed hands in 2000, a handful of notable country properties remain on the market as the season draws to a close.