Former home of Charles Haughey sold for €5.2 million

The Malahide mansion that once belonged to former taoiseach Charles Haughey has been sold to a Japanese businessman for a figure believed to be about €5.2 million.

Abbeville house and the 250-acre estate at Kinsealy in north Co Dublin will be taken over by the Japanese buyer whose background is in the hospitality sector.

Georgian house
It is not clear whether the 14-bedroom house, which is 10km from Dublin city centre, will be converted for commercial use, but it is understood the Gandon-built Georgian house, which is in need of repair, will undergo a three-year restoration.

Abbeville was placed for sale for €7.5 million by receiver Tom Kavanagh of Kavanagh Fennell on behalf of Bank of Scotland Ireland in May 2012.

Kavanagh Fennell is the receiver for Manor Park Homes, which paid more than €35 million when it purchased the estate for development as a luxury hotel and golf course in 2004. Manor Park Homes, owned by Joe Moran, went into receivership in 2011 with debts of €170 million.

The asking price for Abbeville dropped to €5.5 million this year when David Ashmore of Sherry FitzGerald auctioneers took over the sale. However the agent would not disclose the price that was achieved.

Restoration project
Kildare businesswoman Susan MacMillan O'Reilly is understood to have introduced the buyer to the agents. She will now assemble a team to restore the property to its former glory on behalf of her client.

The 14,600sq ft house, which dates from the 1770, was bought by Mr Haughey when he was minister for finance in 1969.

After its sale in 2004, the terms of the deal with Manor Homes allowed Mr Haughey and his wife Maureen to continue living there, though Mrs Haughey moved out in 2008.