The Castletown Conundrum

One of Ireland’s finest country houses, Castletown Cox, may (or may not) be sold for £16 million; all depends on the outcome of a legal case next week

A Palladian country house in Ireland is either to be sold (or not) depending the outcome of an inter-family legal dispute next week. It is currently occupied by the Anglo-Irish Conservative peer Lord Magan and his wife, Wendy.

Offered earlier this month for £15.7 million ($20.4 million, €17.5 million or درهم75 million) by agents Knight Frank, Castletown Cox in south Kilkenny has been described as “one of the most beautiful houses in Ireland”, is currently owned by the Eaglehill family trust and in the hands of DW Trustees. It is said to be rivalled only by Abbey Leix in County Laois as “one of Ireland’s most important country houses” in the plus £15 million category.

Said to be worth £60 million ($78 million, €66.9 million or درهم287 million), Lord Magan was born in Dehli in 1945, educated at Winchester and was one of the founders of Hambro Magan, a private equity firm. He became a life peer in 2011 and took the title Baron Magan of Castletown, of Kensington in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea and purchased Castletown in “poor repair” in 1999.

Set in 513 acres and including 36,630 square foot of accommodation, Castletown Cox was built in 1767 for the protestant Archbishop of Cashel, Michael Cox. The 10 bedroom sandstone and blue Kilkenny limestone house passed through various owners – including “the self-styled Baron Brian de Breffny,” the bisexual son of a London taxi driver turned bookie and one-time husband of an Indian princess – before the Magans took up occupation.

Though the Irish Times reported on DW Trustees’ attempts to sell Castletown Cox on 13^th July, a later article on 18^th July suggested Knight Frank will now “hold off on the active marketing” of the mansion after a hearing at the High Court in Dublin until resolution next week.