ARDEE, CO LOUTH:SMARMORE Castle, in the deeply wooded heart of Ireland's smallest county, is a good fit with Louth's forests, rivers and rolling green acres, not to mention its myth, legend and heritage sites.
Smarmore would also be a good fit for a buyer looking for a lived-in castle with history (the oldest part dates from 1320) that is in good condition and ready to be lived in.
Located in Ardee, 20km north-west of Drogheda, Smarmore has a central, castellated tower dating from the early 1300s and extensions to either side built in 1720 and 1760.
Over two storeys (with three storeys in the turret), the castle’s living area has 1,829sq m (6,000sq ft) of space laid out in four reception rooms, eight bedrooms (six en suite) and a kitchen.
A restaurant, operating on a lease in one wing, takes up a further 1,500sq ft. The very large 18th-century courtyard (once the estate stables) has a wealth of old stone buildings housing a recently closed leisure centre, gym and 22m-long swimming pool. The 15 peaceful, wooded acres surrounding have paths, walks and paddocks as well as a recent plantation of newer trees. The asking price is €1.55 million. Savills is looking after the private treaty sale.
Smarmore castle and lands have always been in the thick of things, historically speaking. The Taaffe family – Welsh and a lively lot who owned castles across Europe – moved into Smarmore Castle in 1320. Generations of the family lived there until it was sold in the 1980s.
The location is mentioned in the Táin Bó Cúailnge (Cattle Raid of Cooley); Cuchulainn dallied there to help a wounded friend and so gave it its name. Monks studied at Smarmore in the 15th century.
Fully and thoughtfully refurbished, it’s been run for 15 years by the Mullen family as a stylish, six-bedroom guesthouse with a leisure centre and Italian restaurant.
The castle’s history lives, especially in the bedrooms occupying the turret – each of which has a small sitting room nestling into the exposed stone curve of the turret.
The designated viscount’s room is particularly atmospheric with its stone-exposed, 6ft-thick walls and four-poster bed.
Elsewhere, the Taaffe room is more in the nature of a classic country-house bedroom while the earl’s room, built in 1740, has front-facing views.
The first-floor drawingroom, or “Blue Room”, has a great deal of 18th-century grace and a marble fireplace with delicately floral inset tiles.
Smarmore Castle would suit as a retreat centre, or a very fine country home. The courtyard in particular offers scope for development.
