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Your account has already a premium subscription linked. el.parentElement.classList.add('-bestvalue'); params[pair[0]] = pair[1]; } } const selectTab = { twttr.widgets.createTweet(tweetId, socialEmbed); }; Asked at the time now 25 years ago why be bought it, he simply replied: Because its a castle and I love it. It is a love that has not faded. } if ((typeof bundleExpires[priceId] != "undefined") || (badges.indexOf('featured') > -1 && labelText)) { The exclusive venue will cater for small private weddings and parties too. } gigyaID: getCookie('guid'),

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", } if (urlQueryString) { } if (isGrantedBy('purchase')) { } } return product; !selectedPrice.badges && selectedPrice.badges !== Object(selectedPrice.badges)) { as well as appearing alongside Gabriel Byrne in Into the Westand other films, he had the means to buy both properties from Coillte. span_tag.style.backgroundColor = ""; } } Your money is in bricks and mortar, he said, adding: You dont have to be stone mad but it helps., And while other modern-day castle owners and dwellers are descendants of the aristocracy, he is hoping to appeal to like-minded people whose ancestors left on the coffin ships who at some stage came into money. if (isRegionalShopFront) { PCA Engineers. } selectedPrice.placeholder_prices Cloontykilla Castle Update September 24, 2016; Contact PCA Engineers. window.loadGTM(); virtualPageViewData.eventData.user.wallType = 'none'; updateTemplateForHomeDelivery(plan); premium_content_redirect_url = 'https://subscribe.independent.ie/welcome/home-delivery/'; What happened to the castle in Grand Designs. }; } if (scripts[i].innerHTML.indexOf("var map") !== -1 && scripts[i].innerHTML.indexOf("L.map") !== -1 && ! const pathParts = new URL(url).pathname.split('/'); price.addEventListener('click', function () { //set expiry time for selectedPriceID. There is also a private shoreline with its own harbour.\u0026amp;ldquo;It will be selectively rented out,\u0026amp;rdquo; he said, adding that the castle will\u00a0appeal to those with a love of history and architecture as well as nature.The castle sits on 20 acres of ancient woodland overlooking Lough Key. Grand Designs Cloontykilla Castle Ireland. userWall = 'googlewall'; // Push initial dataLayer values into object. if (isGrantedBy('whitelist_rule')) { } eventLabel = 'sunday'; Grand Designs Season 12 . Cloontykilla castle aka rockingham castle built in 1839 is now the new home of actor sean simons. click: { const updateSubscriberCookie = function (purchase) { successful_upgrade_redirect_url: successful_upgrade_redirect_url, window.dataLayer.push({ Sean Simon. But this won\u0026amp;rsquo;t be any Airbnb-style party pad.\u0026amp;ldquo;It\u0026amp;rsquo;s not a boutique hotel, it\u0026amp;rsquo;s a private castle and you\u0026amp;rsquo;re king or queen of the castle,\u0026amp;rdquo; he said.Guests will be able to live like royalty in six luxury suites.They will\u00a0feast in a banqueting hall with a medieval trestle table that seats 40, sit in front of an open fire in a Baronial hall and relax in a hot tub situated in a tower of the castle overlooking the parapets and grounds from the roof garden.Those who insist on screen time will be \u0026amp;ldquo;banished\u0026amp;rdquo;\u00a0to the dungeon which will be fitted out with TVs and other tech, accessible via underground fibre optic cables. purchase: { tab.parentNode.classList.remove('is-active'); meteredModal.classList.remove('-active'); })[0]; if (badgeElement) { vars.article.userWall = ! selectedPrice._id) { const setDataLayerMeterStats = function (accessObject) { listeningForGigyaEvents = true; Sean Simon fell in love with the ruins of Cloontyhuga Castle as he played there as a boy. setPriceSelected(selectedPrice._id); window.dataLayer.push({ The project was the labor of love of actor Sean Simons who after falling in love with the ruins of the castle as a boy decided to buy it and restore it to its former glory. \u0026amp;ldquo;That one is 500-years-old.\u0026amp;rdquo;The woods are also home to herds of wild deer, endangered pine martins and red squirrels. const hash = document.location.hash The Peterson investment has helped restart what Sean Simon describes as a labor of love and absolutely nothing less than. })(); Premium subscribers enjoy unlimited access to all articles. There is also a private shoreline with its own harbour. return []; }; The second castle is shore-based and far more accessible. const params = {}; } const gigyaID = getCookie('guid'); eventCategory: getEcommerceEventCategory(), }); template_prices_price_description: '
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  • ', let userWall = 'none'; subtree: true, } It is now fully restored architecturally and he issetting his sights on fitting out the castle with period furnishings and opening it up to selective guests later this year. When Sean Simon was seven years old, he told his parents that he would someday become rich and buy the two castles that are located in nearby Lough Key Forest Park. if (isGrantedBy('app_purchase')) { for (i = scripts.length-1; i >= 0; i--) { }; 'shopfront_annual_header_subscribe' : 'shopfront_annual_subscribe'; leafletTag = scripts[i]; }; The lights of his native Boyle and Carrick-on-Shannon can be seen twinkling across the water as dusk falls. }); !fpblock) { Seans dream almost came crashing down around him when in 2008 when Ulster Bank (which is effectively a Scottish bank) effectively pulled the plug on him and left him seriously struggling to finish the projects and ultimately his dream. FB.XFBML.parse(socialEmbed); if (vars.article) { } }); subscriptionStartDate: '', p_tag.appendChild(span_tag); badgeToFilterBy) { } } return item.value; vars.category.regionals = selectedRegional || ''; let upgrade_bundles = []; var labelText = ''; document.head.append(leafletScript); selectedPrice = getBundleById(previouslySelectedPriceId); This year will not only mark a decade since his restoration of Cloontykilla Castle, which was one of the most watched episodes of Channel 4s Grand Designsprogramme, it also heralds the start of a new investment fund that he launched on January 1. let cookieValue = parts.join('='); if (Object.keys(event.detail.object.badge || {}).indexOf('premium-plus') > -1 && ! wallType: window.dataLayer[0].article.wallType, return hash.substr(1) } document.body.dispatchEvent(new CustomEvent(eventName)); return; if (userHasLoggedIn === true) { if (! if (subscribeLink) { document.cookie = subscriberCookieName + "= ; expires = Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 GMT"; }; } else if (purchase.badge['premium'] && purchase.badge['premium'] == true) { meteredAccess: purchase.metered_paywall, socialEmbed.innerHTML = ''; var nowTimeStamp = Date.now(); return allPrices.concat(item); if (! The castle holds over 800 years of stored memory in its stone walls and is perhaps one of the most significant historic sites in Irelands Hidden Heartlands, particularly given that it is also the site of a 2,500-year-old Bronze Age settlement. const cookies = document.cookie.split('; '); if (eventType === 'content_displayed') { const cookieData = updateSubscriberCookie(event.detail.object); return 'home-delivery'; successful_upgrade_redirect_url: decodeURIComponent(returnURL), product.quantity = 1; eventCategory: 'bundle_click', subscribeButton.classList.remove('-ghost'); eventLabel: 'load' label = 41246032 You are now a premium subscriber', }); const listenForFlipPayEvents = function () { } } (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start': if (badgeToUse !== '') { document.getElementById('welcome_banner_wrapper').style.display = "block"; template_placeholder_prices_summary: '

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    Need help? meteredAccess: purchase.metered_paywall, element.style.display = 'block'; } if(priceholder.dataset.contract_periods !== null && priceholder.dataset.contract_periods !== '' && priceholder.dataset.contract_periods == 12) { eventAction: 'auth', } } event: '_trackEvent', return; Writing on the website, Sean Simon says "although I own them (Mc Dermotts Castle and Cloontykilla Castle) I see myself as their caretaker". const virtualPageViewData = { } event: 'ee-productClick', if (badges.indexOf('home-delivery') > -1) { That quote was attributed to Shimon Peres, an Israeli statesman, and president. fireProductClickEvent(null); } A long time later he purchased it with transforming it into a dynamite dramatic false sixteenth century home complete with excellent baronial lobby extravagance rooms clearing staircases. const fireProductClickEvent = function (fn) { var p_tag = document.createElement("p"); } const badges = getBadgesForEl(el); overpaid mortgage interest refund. bodyAvailable) { window.dataLayer.push({ }); Maybe as a result of tonight's program a miracle might happen. el.removeAttribute(namespace+'-initialized'); evt : window.event; } else if (Object.keys(p.badge || {}).indexOf('premium-plus') > -1) { window.showSubscriberElements(); const badges = getBadgesForEl(el); eventData: { const domain = '.independent.ie'; A place to enjoy 'life on the lake', to relax, have fun and enjoy time in nature. } meteredAccess: purchase.metered_paywall, return; if (addToCartFiredAfterRegistration === false) { window.showSubscriberElements) { window.dataLayer.push(vars); p_tag.classList.add('c-box1-brow'); Welcome! if (userHasValidSubscriberCookie()) { snackbar.style.opacity = couponCodeUsed(purchase) ? _id: purchase.price_id, Hefell in love and vowed to become rich one day and buy itand the crumbling 14th century McDermotts Castle nearby that sits majestically on Castle Island also known as The Rock its own tiny island in the middle of Lough Key. Yet there have been few renovations as crazy as wonderfully misguided as delightfully romantic yet totally demented as last nights in the first episode of. value: priceID, const subscriberCookie = JSON.parse(getCookie(subscriberCookieName) || '{}'); snack_bar_error_message: 'Unable to process payment. }); !subscriberCookie.subscriptionStatus ? ? } Cloontykilla Castle known locally as Rockingham Castle was bought by local actor Sen Simon in 1997 who has spent 12 million. And because Sean hopes to use his show business connections to rent out the castles and land as television and film locations, he will use a generator to power up the castle so there are no tell-tale electricity poles that would detract from its authenticity.He points to a gnarled oak tree on the estate. if (document.cookie.indexOf('guid') > -1) { } Guests will be able to live like royalty in six luxury suites. } The actor Sean Simon at Cloontykilla Castle Alison Gill Sunday June 20 2021, 12.01am, The Sunday Times Television viewers hate a cliffhanger, and when presenter Kevin McCloud walked away. The Castle was designed by famous British architect John Nash and built in 1839. onboarding_article = 'https://subscribe.independent.ie/welcome/premium/'; let bundleExpires = []; const redirectToShopFrontWelcomePage = function () { showPremiumBadge(plan); if (typeof bundleExpires[priceId] != "undefined") { if (isShopFront && hash) { return -1; } const observer = new MutationObserver(onMutation); }); return -1; updateTemplateForHomeDelivery(node); faq.click() His loan was subsequently sold on to a vulture fund and thus the battle to save the dream continued until he met another Irish advocate, Brian Reilly, who managed to persuade an American investor friend, Kenneth D. Peterson, who already has business interests in Ireland, to come on-board and keep the project alive. } } return 'upgrade_flow';