The Guinness Family’s 5,000-Acre Irish Estate Hits the Market

A handsome 18th-century castle boasting celebrity pedigree is on the market for $34.7 million

Spring 2018
Gothic-style white mansion surrounded by lush green trees with deer grazing on the expansive lawn.
Luggala, the 5,000-acre estate of the Guinness brewing family, is on the market for $34.5 million. Photo: Walter Pfeiffer

Half an hour from Dublin, this handsome 18th-century castle has welcomed such pop-music luminaries as Michael Jackson, Mick Jagger, and Bono. They were guests of the Guinness brewing family, which acquired the 5,000-acre estate, named Luggala, in 1937. In the 1990s, Irish conservation specialists Sheehan & Barry Architects oversaw a multimillion-dollar refurbishment of the seven-bedroom Gothic Revival main lodge. Elsewhere on the vast property are several guest cottages with 20 additional bedrooms, as well as silvery waterfalls, a substantial loch, and dense woodlands ideal for hunting.

Contact: $34.7 million; sothebysrealty.com

Elegant Victorian-style living room with ornate furniture, red curtains, and lush green carpeting, featuring large windows.
The plush living room of the 7,400-square-foot main lodge, which dates to 1810. (Seven outbuildings on the property offer an additional 9,000 square feet of living space.) Antonio Martinelli

Elegant dining room with ornate chandelier, vintage furniture, and various artworks on blue walls.
The home has played host to Mick Jagger, Bono, and Michael Jackson, among many other bold-face names. Antonio Martinelli

Elegant vintage dining room with checkered floor, round table set for meal, and artwork on walls.
The majority of the home was severly damaged in a 1956 fire and quickly rebuilt. Antonio Martinelli

Cozy room with floral wallpaper, marble fireplace, and framed portrait above the mantle surrounded by vintage photographs.
Floal wallpaper enlivens one of the main lodge’s seven bedrooms. . Antonio Martinelli

Vintage kitchen with light blue walls, wooden table, hanging lights, green shelves, and vintage decor.
Bathed in pale blue, the kitchen sports a double-height ceiling. Antonio Martinelli

Vintage bedroom with a canopy bed, purple drapes, classic wooden furniture, and a large wall painting.
The master bedroom. Antonio Martinelli

Aerial view of a scenic landscape with a lake, forest, and rocky cliffs under a clear sky in autumn.
Braveheart and the television show The Tudors were shot on the sprawling property. Niall Carroll