`I saw the Lyons Estate in 1989 and I ran away from it. I saw it again in 1995 and decided to buy it," says Tony Ryan. "I wanted to move from the country to be nearer town and I wanted land around me. You couldn't imagine how bad it was. I started with the roof and worked down. We installed 130 new windows, took all the floors up, replastered everything, put in new fireplaces. There was only one fireplace in the house then. Now there are about 13, some Irish, some English, some French.

"I think that something like 700 man years of labour went into the renovation. It cost much more than we thought. You could say a king's ransom.

"Virtually all that you see is new. Twelve restorers took 12 months to do the Gabrielli room where the ceiling had been painted over with layers of emulsion. A team of young people from the Cortauld institute worked under restorer Mary McGrath. There were 100 people working on the site for two and a half years now, under the supervision of project manager Pat Comerford who has now left to set up his own company.

"The most significant change that I was concerned about was the look of the place. The exterior was very dark and dirty, but we had it entirely cleaned. It is made of Ballyknockan granite from Co Wicklow and it has cleaned up beautifully. "The wings needed massive restoration and God knows how much more stone came from the Ballyknockan quarry.

"I was astonished by the quality of the workmanship and of the sheer number of restorers available to us. There are some superb crafts people out there. For instance the plasterer Vincent Carmody from Kerry is a genius.

"It helped that the estate has Section 19 status allowing refurbishment costs to be off set against tax, as long as the house is opened to the public on certain days every year.

"England has the National Trust but, the Irish system is better with Section 19 where they give you tax incentives and the ownership stays with the owners. I felt we should take advantage of Section 19. I have no problem with visitors who are genuinely interested in interior design or architecture."

Throughout the restoration work Dr Ryan was busy collecting suitable furniture. "I have been buying furniture for years. Furniture came from Kilboy, my former home in Tipperary and I have also been buying in Ireland, England and New York, following Irish Georgian furniture."

The original owners, the Lord Cloncurry, went to Rome in 1800, and brought back a marble christening font. For years this was in a local church and when the church was closed it made is way into private ownership. It has since been given back to the estate by local Jen Tankard whose family has worked at Lyons for seven generations.

The result is a house that looks as though it has been an established country seat for generations. An impressive reception hall has a chequered limestone floor and an huge limestone fireplace flanked by banners of old tapestry. A fine library table is ranged with books on country house living around a beautiful display of lilies and eucalyptus. On the sideboard, lies a hefty velvet covered visitors book that invites "the witty and the wise" to contribute.

To the right of the hall a door leads to an inner hall that opens out into a huge airy reception room called the Orangerie. This has a baronial-style fireplace at one end and a dining table that comfortable seats 20 at the other. Floor to ceiling windows overlook the garden formal gardens. Off this room is the kitchen, a 20-ft long galley style room that is purely functional and definitely not for family dining. There is a large formal diningroom with a cream and gold colour scheme and a superb crystal chandelier over the table.

Guests may then be entertained in the family room, a large comfortable room with deep sofas around a huge coffee table.

Tony Ryan's study, redolent of the scent of lilies and cigars, has an Orpen beauty hanging over the fireplace and and another wall hung with architectural drawings and a watercolour of O'Connell Bridge. It's a personal room where valuable antiques vie for space with sentimental items - a pair of chairs hand-painted ebony, and decorated with with planes commemorating GPA; a huge metal plane on a tripod; a telescope and a life-size Dulux dog.

Auction catalogues to the ready, he responds to two runners calling him from London. He has buyers at Sothebys and Christies but doesn't get the items he wants today.

"When you have a house of this size it's not just the furniture you need to furnish a room. It is all the little things.

"It is a tough job to take on a restoration like this. A person would want to have a passionate interest in restoration, and a very good address book. It's all about assembling the right team of people to do the work."

Tony Ryan was in conversation with Orna Mulcahy.