| Address / Eircode | Strancally Castle, Strancally Demesne, Knockanore, Co. Waterford — between Tallow and Youghal on the west bank of the River Blackwater. Eircode not published in any public source — (Unverified) [3] |
|---|---|
| Building type | Gothic Revival / castellated country house, three-bay three-storey over basement, with attached five-bay single-storey outbuilding range and tower, conservatory, cast-iron demesne gateway and landscaped demesne (High) [1][2] |
| Period / date | House c.1827–1830 (NIAH date range 1825–1835); gateway c.1855 (NIAH range 1850–1860); Old Strancally (Desmond) castle ruin, late 12th–16th century (High) [1][2][16] |
| Heritage refs (RPS / NIAH) | RPS WA750204; NIAH 22903402 (house — National rating; Architectural, Historical, Social); NIAH 22903401 (gateway — National rating; Architectural, Artistic) (High) [1][2] |
| Apparent status | Occupied — private dwelling house in active use (High) [3][4] |
| On Derelict Sites Register? | No — no entry traced; the Waterford register is not published as a downloadable list, so this is a searched-but-not-found result rather than a confirmed absence (Medium) [9] |
| On Vacant Sites Register? | No — no entry traced on the council's vacant sites register or its map viewer; a vacant-site levy entry would in any case be highly unlikely for an occupied rural demesne (Medium) [10] |
| Owner | Mark Zuckerberg and Priscilla Chan, following an off-market acquisition of the castle and c.440 acres in 2026; previously Giancarla (Gianni) Forte and Michael Alen-Buckley, who held it for c.25 years and carried out the restoration (High) [3][4][17] |
Strancally Castle is a nationally rated Gothic Revival country house of c.1827–30, built for John Keily MP to designs by the Pain brothers on a commanding site above the River Blackwater, with a fine Richard Turner cast-iron demesne gateway of c.1855 separately listed in the NIAH. [1][2] The NIAH survey found the house mid-renovation in 2003, and that programme continued for roughly two decades under the then owners, who described their tenure as an effort to "save and restore" the castle. [1][4] It is therefore a recovered protected structure rather than an at-risk one: fully occupied, restored, and sold in 2026 with c.440 acres for a reported sum in excess of €20 million. [3][17]