[ad_1]
Killahara Castle, Dovea, Thurles, Co Tipperary
Starting price: € 950,000
Agent: Premier / Helen Cassidy (087) 2463748
HThe most memorable family feuds in history include the McCoy / Hatfield Kentucky border war of the mid- to late 19th century; The bloodbath between the MacDonald / Campbell clans of Scotland in the 17th century and the intrigues, plots and murders of the Medici / Pazzi in 15th century Florence.
Ireland has had its own disputes between localized families, particularly between disenfranchised former native clans and families of arriving planters. Some of these rotted for many generations.
Dovea, on the outskirts of Thurles in Tipperary, was the scene of the long-running Fogarty Purcell / Trant animosities.
To close
Killahara Castle sits on seven acres of land
In 1550, Chieftain Donagh Fogarty built a castle at Dovea. His Killahara Castle differed from typical ’10 pound’ tower houses in that it was built on a bed of solid rock with much finer masonry and was much, much larger.
But the Gaelic order was in its last throes and Fogarty died fighting the Burkes in 1583. The castle passed to his widow, Helen Fogarty, née Purcell.
Due to his involvement in various uprisings, Killahara was repeatedly taken and returned to Fogarty Purcell in the following decades.
To close
The “throne” chairs around the banquet-style oak table
But after Cromwell, it was taken over by the Trant family of landowners, a Dingle-based Protestant clan with Viking origins.
The Fogarty Purcells waited for the right moment and even rented their old properties to the Trants. But the prospect would never be peaceful.
Time and time again, the Fogartys were evicted and their property confiscated by the Trants. In 1819, a dispute between Daniel Fogarty and John Trant reached the Treasury Court and later, in 1824, Phillip Fogarty brought Trant before the King’s Bank Court, again contesting the confiscations and seizures.
To close
The front door is made of wood from a church.
By the middle of the century, ‘Black’ Jack Fogarty, now a local landowner, had moved back into the castle. But the financial difficulties of The Famine caused the Trants to pursue him for debt. Trants evicted the Fogartys once again and confiscated their belongings and livestock.
Black Jack was shattered in 1850. Soon after, Ellis, Trant’s hated agent, was shot and killed on the road. It is famous that two innocent young brothers, Daniel (19) and William (23) McCormack were hanged for the crime.
John Trant, obsessed with the castle, commissioned an expensive restoration, which depleted the family coffers. And despite local animosity (the Trants were boycotted), John turned it into a tennis club for the aristocracy with the tower as a clubhouse.
To close
The main reception is on the second floor.
In 1903, Lady Emily Trant chose to live there herself. It was renovated for her with an experimental vulcanized rubber roof, which ultimately failed.
Lady Emily left after only one year. Local lore claims that she was evicted by the nightly protests of the Black Jack ghost, but the specter of moisture and leaks was the most likely culprit.
During the War of Independence, the Black and Tans burned the castle, allegedly at the behest of the Trants who feared that their longtime enemies, now in the IRA, were using it. When the dust abated, later generations of the locally prized Trants donated it to a local agricultural organization.
To close
Upstairs bed with beamed ceiling
Then, in 2007, entrepreneurs Tom O’Neill and his partner Patrick Noel Ryan, a construction specialist, purchased the shell for € 600,000 on the grounds that they would completely restore Killahara. O’Neill would later buy Ryan’s share.
“The hardest part was getting the building permit,” says Tom. “That took two years. Afterwards, it was a lot like restoring a normal building, putting a suitable roof on it and drying it out.
“The walls are 6 feet thick, so it took a year or so. We have specialists to apply the hot lime harl of the time to the exterior. This allows the building to breathe.” They used a lime wash for the interiors, which also has antiseptic qualities. ” They spent 1 million euros in total.
To close
Tom O’Neill says it took two years to get the building permit
Vintage oak paneling salvaged from an old church provided a magnificent period-friendly front door (150kg), paneled walls and bespoke furniture including the massive oak dining table with two armchairs and heavy oak benches for that authentic castle banquet experience.
The main kitchen and reception are on the first floor with a 17th century upper mantle with a modern wood burning stove and garderobe. (a castle toilet). The main reception is on the second floor with a huge fireplace.
The first bedroom is also on this floor. In all, there are seven bedrooms and five bathrooms in a 3,500-square-foot home that is two and a half times the size of the average family home.
On the third floor is Chief Fogarty’s bedroom with its vaulted ceiling. Here is a secret compartment with an arrow from an ambusher covering the stairs below. Also on this floor is Lady Emily’s bedroom. There are three more bedrooms on the fourth floor and on the fifth loft level, a staircase leads to an open space.
“You can see it from miles away and there is no better place to eat with friends on a warm summer night.” O’Neill says.
To close
There are three bedrooms only on the fourth floor
In recent years, he’s had an enthusiastic Airbnb following. O’Neill is now selling Killahara to invest in its New Work Junction chain of remote work centers. Helen Cassidy of Premier Properties is asking € 950,000 for Killahara Castle with seven acres. And Tom says there is a € 10,000 discount if you are a Trant or a Fogarty.
Irish independent
[ad_2]