A castle for quarters boasting a roof terrace between the battlements, a baronial kitchen, a forest and river at your feet, 40 mins from Dublin
Address: 3 Glanmore Castle, Devils Glen, Ashford, County Wicklow, A67AH77
Asking price: €685,000
Agent: Sherry FitzGerald Country Homes
County Wicklow is Ireland’s Hollywood, our very own Tinseltown, where some of the real movie magic happens. And it is as full of fanciful properties as its Californian equivalent.
Outside Ashford, one of its key locations, there’s a three to four-bedroom slice of Glanmore Castle currently for sale that is scene-stealing.
Originally built in 1760 on the Glanmore Estate, Glanmore Castle was once the home of the family of playwright John Millington Synge.
It was his uncle who added the turrets and castellation in 1804, having engaged the architect Francis Johnston, who designed Dublin’s GPO.
The residence has both literary and rock’n’ roll adjacent connections.
The surrounding woods inspired Seamus Heaney’s Glanmore Sonnets. He lived in a cottage on the estate, and the setting is said to have saved his creative life.
Two years ago, Coillte installed a dozen benches within the glades in his honour.
The house, which operated as a hotel in the 1960s, was divided into five units in 1975 by its then German owners.
Two of these were combined into one big space. It sold for €1.619 million in 2021, according to the property price register.
More modest in size and price, number 4, a large, two-bedroom, sold for €615,000 in 2021, while number 5 sold for €900,000 in 2023.
Extending to 185 square metres, number three is a three-to-four-bedroom terraced house that is seeking €665000 through agents Sherry FitzGerald Country Homes.
Set over four levels, it is filled with character.
The entrance hall leads through to the drawing room, a large, commanding space where a bow window takes centre stage.
Originally the property’s library, this could now be your living room.
At garden level, there is a baronial-style kitchen with slate floors and timber ceiling beams.
It opens out to a private outdoor space, from there is exclusive entry to the Glen and River Vartry.
The bedrooms are on the first and second floors.
The principal is ensuite. From it and the two further bedrooms on the second floor, there are views to The Devil’s Glen and there rich, rolling countryside of the Garden of Ireland.
There is a third room on the second floor that could be used as a nursery, an office or a fourth bedroom.
At the very top of the house is a roof terrace set within the battlements.
The stellar views will make you feel like the king of the castle.
There are some rock star adjacent associations too, that will add colour to the stories you can tell when friends call by.
Europe rocker Joey Tempest, the lead singer with the 1980s Swedish outfit, is said to have entertained guests at a party in the drawing room, banging out a rendition of their worldwide hit, The Final Countdown, on a baby grand piano.
For a time, Charlie Burchill, Simple Minds guitarist, lived in Glanmore Yard, the converted stable block, with Tom Waits, just one of many musicians to visit the music studio.
