Developers former project Roundwood Park for sale for €5.5m

Once earmarked for a €250 million hotel and leisure complex, Roundwood Park in Co Wicklow is back on the market with Ganly Walters for an asking price of €5.5 million.

The 373-acre estate was bought for €17million in 2005 by Swinwood, a subsidiary of Johnny Ronan and Richard Barrett-owned Treasury Holdings. They secured plans for a 301-bed luxury hotel, two golf courses, an equestrian centre, 60 tourist houses and a spa pavilion on conditional approval by Wicklow County Council in 2008.

A combination of Swinwood appealing the 32 conditions on the proposed development and a third party appeal to An Bord Pleanála meant that the ambitious plans never progressed. Now Swinwood’s joint receivers, William O’Riordan and Declan McDonald, are putting the estate back on the market.

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The estate was famously the scene of a failed IRA kidnap attempt of Brown Thomas owner Galen Weston in 1983, when gardaí arrested five men after a shoot-out that resulted in four of the men being shot. Two further assailants were never captured in a battle where more than 100 shots were fired.

Despite the ambitious plans of recent years, selling agent Robert Ganly said the interest this time around is likely to come from a private individual.

“It is being sold as a private estate in need of refurbishment,” he said.

“It’s probably now the biggest private estate south of Dublin but it would need somewhere between €500,000 and €1 million invested in it to restore it to its true potential.

“The real attraction is its location close to Dublin and the privacy it offers.”

Located 41km from Dublin city centre, the main residence has five bedrooms, with the courtyard cottage offering an additional four.

The courtyard area also includes four stables, a gym, a tennis court and an office.

The house is surrounded by manicured lawns and overlooks a lake. The 151 hectares of surrounding parkland is in two blocks, which consist of grasslands suited to all types of agricultural use and about 38.5 hectares of mixed forestry.

Built in the 18th century and remodelled in castle style in the 19th century, Roundwood Park was once the home of former president Sean T Ó Ceallaigh.