Safe as houses in wilds of west Wicklow

The first holiday homes on the remote 240-acre Kippure Estate in west Wicklow are firmly pitched at the investor market, writes Fiona Tyrrell

A desire to do "something" with his degree in agriculture and a belief that west Wicklow was suffering from huge neglect prompted a Galway man to purchase the neglected 240-acre Kippure Estate in west Wicklow and develop it, against the odds, into an integrated tourism business.

The fact that west Wicklow was described as a tourism infrastructure "black spot" by tourism chiefs didn't deter Moycullen-born Tim Kyne from developing his business, which now welcomes outdoor enthusiasts from around the world and employs 10 full-time staff and 40 temporary instructors.

Now a new stage of development at the estate is underway involving the construction of 14 holiday homes. The estate is on the fringes of the Wicklow Mountains National Park along the Sally Gap Road, half way between the Blessington Lakes and Lough Dan and within striking distance of all Wicklow tourist hot spots. Tim purchased the lush estate in 1980. After a number of false starts development at Kippure began in earnest in 2000. Tim and his wife Bríd moved to the wilds of west Wicklow from Rathmines in 2003.

The estate now has 82 bedrooms between self-catering accommodation and a guest lodge which also has bar and restaurant facilities. The Kynes have developed the estate into a thriving business with a walking and an adventure centre, and an outdoor education facility.

It is also a major corporate team-building provider and lists AIB, KPMG and Intel among its clients.

The River Liffey forms the southern boundary of the estate and guests can either take walks on the estate's mature woodland and pastures or access the 20,000-hectare national park via a private bridge across the Liffey.

Kippure has Ireland's only tree-trek facility - an 80-metre rope walk through the trees. The dramatic landscape of the estate has also caught the eye of a number of Hollywood directors. Braveheart, The Devil's Own and Dancing at Lughnasa are among films shot on location at Kippure.

The Athdown holiday home scheme at the estate is firmly pitched at the investor market, and the three-bedroom houses qualify for 91 per cent capital allowances under the holiday cottage scheme.

The houses also come with a rental guarantee of 3.5 per cent of the purchase price for 10 years.

Fitted out to Fáilte Ireland four-star standard, the 115sq m (1,237sq ft) houses can sleep up to eight people.

They are priced from €360,000 (net of Vat) and are for sale through Lisney New Homes.

Houses have attractive floor-to-ceiling glazed windows, solid pine flooring and contemporary rustic decor. All bedrooms are en suite.

The houses are built within the Victorian walled garden of the estate and all have views over the lush Wicklow National Park.

The Kynes have plans to develop a stand-alone county house hotel on the estate at a later date.