*JJ McCabe. Photograph: Dermot Hayes.
A JOINT venture property firm controlled by colourful, multi-millionaire bachelor farmer, John Joseph (JJ) McCabe last year recorded post tax profits of €328,740.
During the Celtic Tiger era, Mr McCabe now 87 scooped the largest amount from any land-deal in County Clare when he sold 48 acres of land for €18.8m outside Ennis to a consortium in 2005.
As part of the record deal, Mr McCabe gave the developer a ‘luck penny’ of €50,000 – a luck penny is a very old Irish tradition originally associated with the buying and selling of animals where the sellers immediately gives back the buyer a ‘gift’ of a sum of money for ‘Good Luck’.
However, a subsequent planning application by the new owners for a planned €50m retail park on the site close to the Ennis by-pass was refused due in part to flooding concerns. The lands remain undeveloped today.
Mr McCabe has used some of the cash from the sale to enter property management and he set up JJ Property Enterprises Ltd in 2013.
In 2015, Mr McCabe confirmed that he paid at auction €320,000 for the 41-bed Kilkee Bay Hotel and €305,000 on the 22-bed Ashford Court hotel in Ennis.
New accounts filed by Mr McCabe’s majority owned JJ Property Enterprises Ltd show that its profits increased from €129,143 in 2022 to €328,740 in 2023 – a 154 percent jump.
The company recorded the profit arising from a profit of €447,777 on the disposal of tangible assets in 2023.
The accounts show that the book value of the disposal of ‘land and buildings’ last year totalled €815,830.
The disposal contributed to the value of the company’s tangible assets declining from €1.048m to €230,507.
During the same period, the company’s cash funds increased from €60,619 to €1.19m.
At the end of December last, the company’s shareholder funds totalled €266,078.
In the annual return for the new accounts, Mr McCabe describes his occupation as ‘farmer’.
A note attached to the accounts on its going concern status stated that after reviewing the company‘s forecasts, plans and financial projections, the directors have a reasonable expectation that the company has adequate resources to continue in operational existence for the foreseeable future.
The accounts show that Mr McCabe has a 51 percent controlling interest in the company while engineer, Liam Walsh of Corbally, Limerick has a 25 percent share and Michael Walsh of Terenure, Dublin has a 24 percent shareholding. The accounts show that the company owes Mr McCabe €1.16m.
