‘Within 10 minutes we had bought a 10-bed country estate house and a castle’

Asking price: €8.5m Agent: Lisney Sothebys (01) 662 4511 and Colliers (01) 633 3700

Not too many people can say that they bought both a fine period country house and a large castle in the same day. And within 10 minutes of seeing them both.

When Michael Ramsden first paid a visit to Killaleigh Castle, Co Tipperary in 1985, he was blown away.

So impressed, in fact, he agreed to buy the 16th-century castle and its estate, which included the 10-bedroomed Sopwell Hall, an elegant 18th-century stately home, as well as 60 acres of land, in Cloughjordan.

“I’d come to view the castle after my secretary, who’d married a local man and moved here, told me about it,” explains the English-born antiques expert, who specialises in 17th-century furniture and previously worked for the Office of Public works, refurnishing old castles around Ireland.

“But I quickly realised that the whole estate was up for sale. I made a decision on the spot. I just fell in love with it.”

He bought Killaleigh Castle and the estate, comprising Sopwell Hall, two gate lodges, a gardener’s cottage, a courtyard with stone-cut buildings, including a coach house, a studio and workhouses plus the steward’s house, known as the Bailiff’s house.

The entire was acquired from the Trench family who had lived there for generations.

All of the buildings on the land were in very bad repair however, with crumbling walls and old fixtures at every turn.

It has taken Michael, who for many years ran Saskia Antiques, and his wife, Sarah, 35 years and ‘a lot of money’ to repair most of the estate and much of this has been spent on Sopwell Hall itself, today the couple’s private home.

The house alone spans 14,235 sq ft, or the equivalent of 14 average family homes. The castle, laid out largely over four floors is almost 4,000 sq ft.

Since then Sopwell has been re-wired and replumbed. Its windows were replaced and a new zoned heating system installed.

In addition, the house was recommissioned with two kitchens, five bathrooms, a boiler room, a laundry room and a roof terrace was also added. The seven-bay property now has 11 bedrooms (there’s another in the basement) six reception rooms, a servant’s hall, a boot room, a pantry, an office and a wine cellar.

The original Georgian interior has been restored by Michael with an eye for detail that only a seasoned antiques expert can render.

On top of that, the couple have also developed the gardens around the estate, knocking down a conservatory to build a sunken garden and planting orchards with a walled garden.

Finally they have increased the size of the land holdings from 60 to 300 acres by buying neighbouring ground.

Today it is a bona fides country estate. But ironically, the very structure which first drew them to the estate, still awaits restoration.

“The cost of restoring the castle, in addition to everything else would have been too great,” explains Michael.

“Instead, I chose to spend the money on restoring the house and some of the other smaller buildings. The castle interior is pretty bleak but it is certainly restorable for anyone prepared to take it on. It’s really a most impressive building.”

Unlike Ireland’s typical tower houses, Killaleigh is a much larger castle. It was built circa 1590 as the seat of the Mac Egan family, who’d lived in Tipperary as far back as the time of the Brehon Laws. But in 1652, under Cromwell they were forced to forfeit the building and their land, and then it was taken over for military purposes.

One of Cromwell’s soldiers, Thomas Sadlier, inherited the building when Cromwell left Ireland. “It’s interesting to note that the castle was in a completely ruined state at that time,” says Michael who has studied its history in detail. “Colonel Sadlier rebuilt it, restoring it and doubling its original size, circa 1660.”

In 1745, his grandson, Francis Sadlier, decided to build a new principal residence on the estate and commissioned architect Francis Bindon, also responsible for designing Russborough House in Co Wicklow, to design Sopwell Hall.

Killaleigh Castle has been left uninhabited since then. Although weathered with time, it is still a remarkable building and in surprisingly good order given this length of disuse. “It is one of the finest examples of a castle transitioned to a fortified house in Ireland,” adds Michael.

“The castle has larger windows than usual for that era for example.” There’s also a porthole-style window with a Latin inscription that reads: ‘Ora Pro-Connor 1602’ and an impressive stone newel staircase.

Sopwell Hall remained under the ownership of the Sadlier family until 1797, when Mary Sadlier married Frederic Trench, whose family were originally French Huguenots.

It then became the property of the Trench family and remained in their hands until 1985 when Michael and his wife Sarah stepped in to purchase the estate.

“Mrs Trench who lived here on her own at the time was getting on and she didn’t want the responsibility of the estate,” explains Michael. “She sold many of the artefacts in the house before we arrived.”

The Ramsdens even removed the telegraph poles which line the half-mile driveway to the front of the house.

“The connections went underground,” explains Michael. “We wanted the aesthetic to be in keeping with the 18th century.”

Michael has many happy memories of his time spent on the estate over the last 35 years including from when they used to entertain on a large scale.

“When we were younger, we would sometimes have lawn meetings,” recalls Michael.

“We’re not terribly into horses, but we did it because the previous owners had been and we knew the master of the fox hounds. These days, we have a few friends over sometimes, who we’re always happy to see, but otherwise we’re quite private.”

Ramsden points out every inch of the house has been restored, even the attic which used to house servants. “There’s not one room which is not comfortable and welcoming,” he says.

What he loves most about the estate is the sense of peace.

“There’s absolutely no sound pollution, no light pollution and no air pollution,” he says.

“It’s like stepping into another world because it’s in the middle of the land and the drive to access it is about half a mile or longer. It’s very peaceful. I love being here every single day. I’m just back from walking the dogs through the woods and it was beautiful.”

The couple are now downsizing to a late Georgian house in Kinsale which is a fifth of the size.

“My wife Sarah is younger than me and I don’t want her to have the responsibility of looking after the estate should anything happen to me,” says Michael.

“We will be sad to leave of course. It’s been our home for 35 years and restoring it has been a labour of love.”

And like many who have come to live Ireland and taken a tattered historic building into their care, the Ramsdens leave behind them a fully restored historic country house, ready for the next 300 years and a castle that they’ve protected for a generation which is now waiting it’s turn to be brought back to life.

The Ramsdens departure marks the end of an era for Sopwell Hall and its passage to new owners should hopefully mean the beginning of a whole new era for the historic Killaleigh Castle itself.

While the potential for a big impact tourism project here is obvious, Michael Ramsden’s hope is that someone will acquire the entire estate for private residential property.

“So many of these lovely houses have been turned into hotels or guesthouses. Our wish is that someone comes here and appreciates the quality of the architecture and the interiors and wants to live here and use it as private house, especially if they do up the castle.”

Joint agents Lisney Sotheby’s International Realty and Colliers International are seeking €8.5m.