HC Deb 27 February 1911 vol 22 cc163-4W
Mr. SHEEHAN

asked the Chief Secretary whether the Wallis estate, Drishane, Millstreet, county Cork, came in any way under the jurisdiction of the Estates Commissioners; were proposals for the purchase of this estate before them at any time; have negotiations taken place or an agreement been entered into for the purchase of that portion of the Drishane demesne known as the Park, and containing 100 acres of land or thereabouts, by Mr. Cornelius O'Callaghan, county councillor; and are the Estates Commissioners aware of the circumstances under which Mr. O'Callaghan became the tenant of this extensive tract of land?

Mr. BIRRELL

The hon. Member presumably refers to the residue of the H. A. B. Wallis Estate, the bulk of which was sold under the Land Purchase Acts prior to that of 1903. This residue consists of the demesne lands and the mansion house which were not under' the jurisdiction of the Estates Commissioners, but were the subject of proceedings in the court of the land judge. The Commissioners furnished the land judge with an estimate of the price which they would be prepared to advance for the lands and house. The land judge sold the lands to a purchaser for a sum in excess of the Commissioners' estimate. The Commissioners have no information as to the concluding paragraph of the question.