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Strancally Castle

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Strancally Castle
Srón Chaillí
An illustration from an 1834 edition of the Dublin Penny Journal
Map
Interactive map of the Strancally Castle area
General information
StatusPrivate dwelling house
TypeHouse
Architectural style
Gothic revival
LocationKnockanore, Ireland
Coordinates52°04′02″N 7°52′29″W / 52.0671°N 7.8746°W / 52.0671; -7.8746
Estimated completion
1827
OwnerMark Zuckerberg (2026)
Technical details
Materialsandstone and limestone ashlar
Floor count3
Design and construction
ArchitectsJames Pain and George Richard Pain
DeveloperJohn Kiely MP
DesignationsProtected structure[1]
Website
strancallycastle.ie

Strancally Castle (from Irish Srón Chaillí, meaning 'nose of the hag')[2] is a castellated country house in County Waterford, Ireland. It was built around 1827 near the site of an earlier castle overlooking the River Blackwater, close to the town of Tallow, County Waterford and Youghal, County Cork. Several structures in the demesne are listed on the Record of Protected Structures maintained by Waterford City and County Council.[1]

History

[edit]

Early history

[edit]
The ruins of Old Strancally Castle, as illustrated in Francis Grose's Antiquities of Ireland in 1791

The original castle at Strancally was reputedly built by Raymond 'le Gros' Fitzgerald at the time of the Anglo-Norman invasion of Ireland in the late 12th century.[3]

By the 16th century, the land around Strancally was controlled by the FitzGerald family, Earls of Desmond. The last FitzGerald (Geraldine) owner of the castle, James Fitzjohn FitzGerald, was executed following the Desmond Rebellion of 1579 and the FitzGerald lands were confiscated by the crown.[4]

In Francis Grose's Antiquities of Ireland, published in 1791, the original castle at Strancally is described as "built on a rock directly over the river". Grose states that the structure had been used by one of the Earls of Desmond as a prison and that, from "a hole cut through the rock in the manner of a portcullis", he cast the bodies of those imprisoned there. Grose's account suggests that, owing to the "horrible practices committed here", the government "ordered both the cave and castle to be demolished" and that "half the castle [was] blown up" with the gun powder "splitting it from top to bottom".[5][6]

19th century

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The present building, also known as Strancally Castle,[7] was designed and built around 1827 by James and George Richard Pain.[8] It was built for John Kiely,[9] MP for Clonmel, and the High Sheriff of County Waterford from 1819 to 1820.[10][11] The 19th century building was built approximately 4.5 km upriver of the original Desmond castle.[12] In Samuel Lewis's Topographical Dictionary of Ireland, published in 1837, the castellated house is described as "a large gothic building, in a richly planted demesne of above 1,000 acres".[13]

The castle, in an estate of 5000 acres, was sold in 1856.[14] It was acquired by George Whitelocke Lloyd, of a wealthy Anglo-Irish manufacturing family, who was later appointed High Sheriff of County Waterford from 1859 to 1860. His son, William Whitelocke Lloyd (1856–1897), was an artist and army officer who fought in the Anglo-Zulu War of 1879.[15] The house and estate remained in the ownership of the Lloyd family into the early 20th century.[16]

20th century

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The Lloyd family are recorded as still residing at the estate in the 1901, 1911 and 1926 census.[17][18][19]

The estate eventually came into the possession of the Irish Land Commission, who sold off the land piecemeal before selling the house with a remaining 160 acres.[20][21] It later appears to have been owned by Edward Parke Seaton for a period after World War II.[22][23]

Towards the end of the 20th century, the site was owned by Friedrich Billensteiner and family.[24]

21st century

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The house was bought by Giancarla Forte, daughter of Charles Forte, Baron Forte, and Michael Alen-Buckley around the year 2000 and restored over a period of 20 years.[25][26][27] In 2022, the estate owners, Gianni and Michael Alen-Buckley, were reported by their domestic and maintenance workers to the Workplace Relations Commission. The Spanish anarcho-syndicalist confederation CNT-AIT, and other sections of the International Workers' Association (IWA-AIT), showed their solidarity with the workers, and notified the company of the initiation of a union dispute and the organisation of a range of solidarity actions.[28][29][30] The Irish-based Organise! workers association also indicated its support for the workers' demands.[31]

In 2026, Facebook co-founder Mark Zuckerberg acquired the castle and its 440-acre estate in a private sale for an estimated €23 million to €35 million.[32][33][34]

References

[edit]
  1. 1 2 Waterford City and County Council Development Plan - 2022-2028 - Appendix 9 - Record of Protected Structures (PDF), Waterford City and County Council, retrieved 20 August 2026
  2. ↑ "Srón Chaillí/Strancally". logainm.ie. Retrieved 20 August 2026.
  3. ↑ "Strancally Castle". trips.ie. Retrieved 20 August 2026.
  4. ↑ "Strancally Castle, Strancally, Co. Waterford". irishhistory.com. Retrieved 20 August 2026.
  5. ↑ Grose, Francis (1791). The Antiquities of Ireland (Volume 2). p. 37 – via archive.org.
  6. ↑ Croker, Thomas Crofton (1824). Researches in the South of Ireland. p. 122 – via archive.org. Strancally was one of the strong holds of the Desmond family, and the atrocious cruelties committed in this castle called down the particular vengeance of Elizabeth's government, by whose orders it was blown up [..] The present [Strancally] house was built on the site of a castle that belonged, with those already described, to the Fitzgeralds, and is the reputed birth place of the long lived Countess of Desmond
  7. ↑ "Cappoquin to Youghal", The Catholic Universe, vol. 12, no. 600, 31 December 1885 – via thecatholicnewsarchive.org, Not very far, higher up on the same side, are the crumbling ruins of [old] Strancally Castle, from which the modern structure derives its name. Strancally (strath na-callighs, the Hag's strath or holm)
  8. ↑ "Strancally Castle, Strancally Demesne, Waterford". Buildings of Ireland. National Inventory of Architectural Heritage. Retrieved 20 August 2026.
  9. ↑ "Co. Waterford, Strancally Castle". Dictionary of Irish Architects. Irish Architectural Archive. Retrieved 20 August 2026.
  10. ↑ "Keily, John (?1765-1843), of Strancally Castle, Co. Waterford. | History of Parliament Online". www.historyofparliamentonline.org. Retrieved 20 August 2026.
  11. ↑ "By Ambition Hewn". The Irish Aesthete. 6 April 2015. Retrieved 20 August 2026.
  12. ↑ Whelan, Laura (20 August 2026). "Drone footage shows Waterford castle bought by Zuckerberg". rte.ie. Retrieved 21 August 2026.
  13. ↑ Lewis, Samuel, ed. (1837). "Kilcockan". A Topographical Dictionary of Ireland. Retrieved 20 August 2026 – via libraryireland.com.
  14. ↑ "Estate: Lloyd (Strancally Castle)". Landed Estates Database. University of Galway. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 5 August 2013.
  15. ↑ "(#29) Lloyd, William Whitelock". sothebys.com. Retrieved 20 August 2026.
  16. ↑ "Lloyd (Strancally Castle)". Landed Estates Database. University of Galway. Retrieved 20 August 2026.
  17. ↑ "Census Record | The National Archives of Ireland - 1911". National Archives. Retrieved 21 August 2026.
  18. ↑ "Census Record | The National Archives of Ireland - 1926". National Archives. Retrieved 21 August 2026.
  19. ↑ "Census Record | The National Archives of Ireland - 1901". National Archives. Retrieved 21 August 2026.
  20. ↑ "Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Sale of Strancally (Waterford) Castle and Lands". oireachtas.ie. Dáil Éireann. October 1958. Archived from the original on 3 March 2016. Retrieved 5 August 2013.
  21. ↑ "Dáil Éireann debate - Wednesday, 29 Oct 1958 Vol. 171 No. 2". oireachtas.ie. Dáil Éireann. Retrieved 21 August 2026.
  22. ↑ "Dáil Éireann debate - Tuesday, 31 May 1955 Vol. 151 No. 3". oireachtas.ie. Dáil Éireann. Retrieved 21 August 2026.
  23. ↑ "Seaton, Edward Parke". Dictionary of Irish Architects. Irish Architectural Archive. Retrieved 21 August 2026.
  24. ↑ Billensteiner, Friedrich; Heffernan, Kieran (1999). The History of Strancally Castle and the Valley of the Blackwater between Lismore and Youghal. Tiber Books.
  25. ↑ Reddan, Fiona. "Original home of Mark Zuckerberg's Irish castle is immortalised in verse as the site of gruesome deeds". The Irish Times. Retrieved 21 August 2026.
  26. ↑ "Windfarm upsets Gianni Forte". The Phoenix Magazine. Retrieved 20 August 2026.
  27. ↑ Whelan, Laura (20 August 2026). "Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg buys Co Waterford castle". rte.ie. Retrieved 20 August 2026.
  28. ↑ "Conflicte sindical a la mansió privada de Stancally Castle". CNT-AIT La Marina Alta. Retrieved 23 February 2023.
  29. ↑ "Union dispute in Strancally Castle private estate". Solidarity Federation. Retrieved 23 February 2023.
  30. ↑ "Fagforeningskonflikt i Strancally Castle i Irland". Norsk Syndikalistisk Forbund. Retrieved 23 February 2023.
  31. ↑ "Solidarity with the Strancally Two". Organise!. Retrieved 23 February 2023.
  32. ↑ Quinlan, Ronald. "Mark Zuckerberg buys Strancally Castle in Co Waterford". The Irish Times. Retrieved 20 August 2026.
  33. ↑ Carroll, Rory (20 August 2026). "Mark Zuckerberg buys 440-acre Strancally castle estate in Ireland". The Guardian. Retrieved 20 August 2026.
  34. ↑ Yuhas, Alan (21 August 2026). "Mark Zuckerberg Buys an Irish Castle". The New York Times. Retrieved 21 August 2026.
[edit]
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