Clan castle in Tipperary

THE ANCIENT O’Kennedy clan of Tipperary will be spinning in their graves when they see the artist’s impression London agents Andrews Robertson is circulating showing what the castle they built – now an ivy-covered ruin – could look like if it were restored.

The artists’s image shows a “restored” Ballyfinboy Castle with car port, patio furniture and a couple playing croquet in the garden – all subject to planning permission of course. And the cost? The agent says you won’t do it “for less than £300,000”.

Anyone who buys the castle on 2.5 acres a mile from Borrisokane, Lough Derg is guaranteed “full vacant possession”, says the agent who adds that an 1840 survey described the castle as “a ruin in a good state of preservation”.

Ballyfinboy Castle, which is listed, will be auctioned with a reserve of £100,000 on April 6th. The agent says the Irish owner chose to auction it in London “to cast the net wider” for buyers. The castle was built by the O’Kennedy clan around 1480. The castle’s first recorded mention was its capture in 1599. It was granted to Kildare adventurer Sir Nicholas White, and has been uninhabited since the mid-19th century.