Cottage used in film version of John B. Keane's `Field' goes under the hammer

The Bull McCabe was ready to kill for it and several prospective buyers are already dying to get their hands on it. At least that's how a Mayo vendor views the level of interest in an unusual agricultural property which is due to come under the hammer in Westport next Friday.

Auctioneer John H. Judge has marked a guide price of £300,000 for the simple cottage and 32 acres of farmland in the Erriff river valley in Leenane. Simple, except for the fact that it was the set for the widow's house in the film version of John B. Keane's The Field, directed by Jim Sheridan, produced by Noel Pearson and starring Richard Harris, John Hurt and Brenda Fricker.

The former home of a small farmer, the late Thomas Tunney, it has been uninhabited for the last few years. The cottage is described as "basic" - or as basic as Keane's character would have had it - and would require considerable investment to meet modern standards of comfort.

The farm is at the foot of Glenacolly mountain and the land is best suited to grazing sheep. The new owner would be granted a sixth share in another 4,500 acres of mountain grazing, and a mountain stream flows by the dwelling.

The cottage includes outhouses such as a cow byre, storage shed, a cart house and shed for storing turf. It is about 12 miles from Westport, on the main Westport-Connemara road. Mr Judge, who describes the setting as one of "unique scenic splendour" in a "secluded sylvan setting, anticipates a healthy turnout for the auction on Friday in Westport's Castlecourt Hotel.