Almost €19.5 million has been paid for just over 39 acres of development land in Kenmare, Co Kerry, in what is believed to be one of the largest prices paid for a land bank in a provincial town in Munster.
The 39.25-acre site between the town and the sea was owned by the Arthur brothers, Patrick, Joseph and John, who are businessmen and landowners.
It was sold at public auction in Killarney last Thursday.
It is understood that the land was bought in trust by a Cork city solicitor for a Cork developer.
Five bidders took part in the auction for it. Bidding opened at €11 million.
Afterwards, auctioneer Tom Spillane said the price of €19.4 million for the land was more than €4 million above what he had been expecting.
However, he said, there had been a lot of interest in it.
The land has been used up until now for agricultural purposes and for timber storage.
In the new Kenmare local area plan issued last year it was rezoned.
It can now be used for a variety of residential housing of low, high and medium density.
Kenmare (urban pop. 2,655 in 2002) was ranked by Fortune magazine nine years ago as one of the top 10 most desirable places in the world to retire to, alongside London, Costa Rica, Hawaii and Florida.
The town's elderly and retired population has since grown, and now some 18 per cent of its population are over the age of 65, a percentage several points above the national average.
Hundreds of houses continue to be built there, and auctioneers have targeted the retired market internationally.
The town, which has neither a cinema nor a public swimming pool, is at the gateway to the Beara peninsula.