Adare Manor sold to businessman JP McManus

The Five-star Adare Manor Hotel & Golf Resort has been sold to businessman JP McManus for an estimated €30 million.

The Limerick-born multimillionaire has had a long association with Adare Manor, where he has hosted star-studded Pro-Am golfing tournaments in 2005 and 2010, raising millions for charity.

Participants in the tournament have included golfer Tiger Woods as well as actors Samuel L Jackson and Michael Douglas. The hotel has also hosted former US President Bill Clinton.

“I am very happy to confirm that as of 30th January 2015, JP, Noreen and the McManus family are now the owners of Adare Manor. We look forward to working with our new owners who have previously hosted two JP McManus ProAms here in the past,” Adare Manor general manager Anita Higgins said.

The five-star hotel and golf course was put on the market by CBRE last year with a guide price of €25 million.

The Co Limerick venue frequently attracts between 70 and 75 per cent of its guests from the buoyant American market. The Dunraven State bedroom lets for anything from €600 to €900 per night during the busy summer months while other suites can make between €200 and €450.

The resort has the distinction of being chosen as Ireland’s Leading Hotel at the World Travel Awards in each of the three years up to 2013.

Adare Manor was originally a two-storey seven-bay house from the early 18th century and when it passed to the second Earl of Dunraven in 1832 he began rebuilding it in the Tudor-Revival style as a means of occupying himself because he was prevented by gout from shooting and fishing.

The resort was owned by Americans Tom and Judy Kane who acquired it in 1987 from the Earl of Dunraven. They restored and extended the manor and converted it into a 62-bedroom hotel, later adding a highly rated golf course designed by the legendary Robert Tent Jones, senior.