This paper based on estate papers and the records of the Irish Land Commission charts the ‘fall’ of the Farnham estate in county Cavan during the period 1919 to the early 1930s. By 1919 the finances on the Farnham estate were in sharp decline and attempts were made to alleviate some of this stress by selling commodities from the estate. As levels of agrarianism increased in 1922 and uncertainty surrounding future land legislation prevailed the sale through private treaty of demesne lands was initiated in a desperate attempt to raise much needed cash while also preventing the occupation of these lands by landless men. Under the terms of the 1923 Land Act the Irish Land Commission ear-marked parts of Farnham demesne for compulsory purchase in 1924. A period of wrangling between the estate solicitors and the Land Commission ensued over the following years. The final settlement reached in 1930 saw a reduction in the area of land acquired by the Commission, illustrating how, when challenged persuasively they could be forced to review and modify compulsory land purchase decisions. While a relatively intact demesne at Farnham was retained, the process of transferring ownership of the remaining tenanted estate to the Land Commission was simultaneously underway from late 1923. By May 1931 this process was complete and the landed basis enjoyed by the Farnham family over the previous three centuries was gone. This paper concludes by assessing the impact of the loss of the estate on the family socially and financially.