Edward Haughey’s unfinished mansion for sale near Border

Dungooley Lodge, the vast unfinished home of deceased Northern Ireland business tycoon Edward Haughey, has been placed on the market with a price tag of €4.155 million. The property, on 256 acres, is located in Kilcurry, Co Louth, close to the Border and about 13km from Dundalk.

At the time of his death in March 2014, Lord Ballyedmond of Mourne – as Haughey was also known – was believed to be Northern Ireland's richest businessman, with a fortune estimated at £650 million. He lived outside Rostrevor, Co Down, on the shores of Carlingford Lough, but in 2001 began building Dungooley Lodge in the townland in which he grew up.

When construction finally got under way after a series of delays, the 27,000sq ft mansion was hailed as the largest residential property built in Northern Ireland in a century. The design has been compared with the neoclassical design of the Merrion Street facade of Leinster House, featuring an arched portico, domed roof and Indian sandstone columns.

Dungooley Lodge is being sold by the family through Newry-based auctioneers Best, as a “shell building” with roof and glazing completed. The buyer will need to cover electrical and plumbing works.

The receptions and accommodation comprise 24,500sq ft of the property. The basement, extending to 2,580sq ft, is described as suitable for use as an “underground garage”.

The ground floor includes a drawing room, dining room, library, family room, breakfast room, kitchen and “staff accommodation”. The basic finish features quality materials, including Rocha hardwood sash windows and doors, and sandstone sills and window surrounds.

A glass dome and lantern flood the entrance and main hall with natural light. Upstairs are nine en-suite bedrooms and dressing rooms and more staff quarters. The master bedroom has its own dressing room, en-suite, study and extensive balcony with panoramic views over the countryside.

Whole or in lots

While the buyer can purchase the entire estate on 256 acres of pasture and arable land (along with lands close to the main Dundalk-Armagh Road planted out in trees in recent years), there is also an option to purchase the main house on 98 acres of surrounding land for €1.85 million, with the rest of the estate available in five separate lots.

Although planned by Haughey in the early 2000s, Dungooley’s construction was prolonged, and particularly faltered when a 70lb bomb of homemade explosives was discovered in one of the walls in the house in 2006. The bomb was linked to dissident republicans. Haughey was the first person to sit in both the Seanad and the British House of Lords.