While the owners of Clare Island Lighthouse may not be wailing, they could be forgiven for being just a little disappointed that the interest Martin McDonagh’s The Banshees of Inisherin generated for Ireland’s west coast earlier this year didn’t help to drive the sale of the property for its original and hugely ambitious price tag of €4.8 million.
Five months on, and with the required wealthy buyer yet to appear on the horizon, joint agents Sherry FitzGerald Country Homes, Sherry FitzGerald Crowley and Christie’s International Real Estate have dropped the property’s asking price by 39.58 per cent to €2.9 million in an effort to reel one in.
The Mayo lighthouse turned Blue-Book guest house boasts commanding views of Clew Bay, the Atlantic Ocean and Keem Bay on Achill Island, where many of the scenic vistas featured in McDonagh’s Oscar-nominated movie were shot.
Not that this is the first time that the asking price of the prominent nautical landmark has taken a plunge. When it last sold in 2008, there was more than a little chatter when its original asking price went from €2.1 million down to €500,000. It later sold at auction for a sum believed to be in excess of €1 million, purportedly to a German man who purchased it as a birthday present for his wife.
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The current sale includes the main lighthouse, which has been renovated to include three en suite bedrooms, and five outhouses, which have also been refurbished and turned into further guest accommodation.
The original lighthouse dating from 1806 (and later replaced in 1818 after being destroyed by fire) was decommissioned in 1965, when its light, which had given over 150 years of unbroken service, was finally extinguished as its beams were sometimes occluded due to fog.
Perhaps this price drop is a reflection of the prominent trend of “price discovery” taking place in Dublin’s prime and super-prime sector, wherein both parties agree to meet each other’s expectations to make a deal.
There have been a number of price drops in the capital recorded recently such as Censure House on the Hill of Howth (down 17 per cent from €15 million to €12.5 million), Ananda in Killiney (down 11 per cent from €10 million to €8.95 million) and Dungriffan on Sydney Parade Avenue in Sandymount (down 14 per cent from €6.75 million to €5.8 million).
