} ecommerce: { } Sean recounts how as a young seven-year-old he told his parents that he would someday become rich and buy the two castles that are located in nearby Lough Key Forest Park, which is close to Carrick-on Shannon in County Leitrim. premium_content_redirect_url = decodeURIComponent(returnURL); Drone footage of Cloontykilla Castle near The Forest Park Boyle also featured on Grand Designs as well as appearing alongside Gabriel Byrne in Into the Westand other films, he had the means to buy both properties from Coillte. const isNumber = function (evt) { } if (!hash) { const tabs = document.getElementById('shop-front-tabs'); userID: cookieData.userID, fireProductClickEvent(function () { false : true; window.scrollTo(0, faq.offsetTop - 15); } (scripts[i].innerHTML.indexOf("shopfront_url") !== -1)) { }) castle ruins historical site year 1839 animated sequence architectural diagram 22 more Plot summary Add synopsis Genres Documentary Reality-TV Certificate TV-G }; setBundleToFullWidth(plan); eventLabel: 'save' 0 : 1; } price.placeholder_prices.map(priceToEcommerceProduct) if (welcomePopUp) { if (flipPayScriptThresholdExpired() || ! }; }; actionField: { } if (userHasLoggedIn === true) { selectedPrice.placeholder_prices wallType: window.dataLayer[0].article.wallType, } virtualPageViewData.eventData.article = { Posts Tagged. product.quantity = 1; document.getElementById('discover_more_banner').href = onboarding_article; template_summary_other_paymet_options_android_pay: "
", ","articleBody":"\u0026amp;ldquo;I think these places nearly talk to the owner,\u0026amp;rdquo; Irish actor Sean Simon says during a twilight tour of the grounds of his beloved Cloontykilla Castle overlooking the eastern shore of Lough Key in Co Roscommon. if (isShopFront) { const plans = node.querySelectorAll('.c-box1'); (returnURL || member_redirect)) { } if (!bundle_info && !upgrade_bundles.length) { if (isRegionalShopFront) { position: 0, const setActiveTab = function (tabPrefix) { const element = mutation.target; selectedPrice._id) { } } } if (!! const activeTabId = tabs.querySelector('li.is-active a').id; window.dataLayer[0].article.wallVisible = 'false'; const plans = node.querySelectorAll('.c-box1'); } if (socialNetwork === 'twitter' || socialNetwork === 'twitterVideo') { const meterStatsCookieData = JSON.stringify({ Asked at the time now 25 years ago why be bought it, he simply replied: Because its a castle and I love it. It is a love that has not faded. userHasLoggedIn = true; } ? } const getBundleValue = function (purchase, purchaseType) { if (badges.indexOf('home-delivery') > -1) { meteredAccess: purchase.metered_paywall, const getUrlHash = function () { listenForGigyaEvents(); } The lights of his native Boyle and Carrick-on-Shannon can be seen twinkling across the water as dusk falls. if (vars.article.wallType === 'premium') { eventLabel: label showPremiumBadge(plan); if (priceA.badges['premium-plus'] && priceB.badges['premium']) { subscriptionFinishDate: '', } eventCategory: 'g_showcase', subscriptionFinishDate: '', } return price; if (accessObject.hasOwnProperty('granted_by_google_showcase')) { const disableRedirect = false; else { flipPayConfig = Object.assign(flipPayConfig, { } script.onerror = function() { } template_summary_card: "", const item = setPriceSelected(priceID); document.getElementById('fp-tog-1').click(); if (activeTabId === 'shop-front-monthly-prices-tab-trigger') { if (accessObject.access === true) { You can find more information about Cloontykilla Castle on their website. document.querySelector('#fp-snackbar .message2-outer').classList.add('-error'); if (isGrantedBy('app_purchase')) { Id like to see more self-styled Lord Mucks take over., Veteran republican Rita OHare has died, Sinn Fin announces, Maynooth University tenders for site to house 500 students amid accommodation crisis, Lifeboats deployed as Irish Ferries vessel catches fire with 200 people on board, When will the Covid pandemic be over? const setDataLayerNonMeteredFlow = function (accessObject) { 107 Phibsborough Road, Dublin 7 +353 1 234 3752. if (returnURL) { socialEmbed.innerHTML = ''; } window.showSubscriberElements) { While he lives in a cottage overlooking the River Shannon, he hopes to spend some time living in his dream castle once it is fully furnished. window.scrollTo(0, flipPayEl.offsetTop + (flipPayEl.clientHeight/2)); } Comedian Sean Lock has died from cancer at the age of 58, his agent has confirmed. } }); "Can't beat a good Irish pub" - David Beckham celebrates son's birthday in Dublin, UPDATE: Alex Murdaugh sentenced to life in prison for murdering wife and son, WATCH: Irish bishop's funeral held in Los Angeles today, Liam Neeson, Michael D Higgins and Bono among voices featured on "Patrick Kavanagh Almost Everything'". eventCategory: 'upgrade_flow', } Updated in 2021. let returnURL = getQueryStringValue('returnURL'); } } document.body.addEventListener('fp_gigya_ready', function () { } } return 'epaper-access'; productClickSource = null; template_placeholder_selected: '
', if (isGrantedBy('purchase')) { event.detail.object.metered_paywall) { The project was the labor of love of actor Sean Simons who after falling in love with the ruins of the castle as a boy decided to buy it and restore it to its former glory. }; return; step: 1 } meteredModal.classList.remove('-active'); What happened to Sean Simons castle from Grand Designs. } else if (window.location.href.indexOf("#monthly") > -1) { vars.user.userID = subscriberCookie.userID || ''; fireAddToCartEvent(); window.dataLayer[0].user.meteredPaywall = meteredPaywall; const priceToDisplayBilledFrequency = el.querySelector('.fp-price-to-display-billed-frequency'); }), } } document.getElementById('discover_more_popup').href = onboarding_article; const scripts = document.querySelectorAll("script"); // if we have a selectedPrice we will continue to use it } if (eventType === 'content_displayed') { if (isShopFront) { }); }); // Since the user is a subscriber, the wall is no longer visible. return cookieValue; selectedPrice = bundles[0]; add: { show_pincode: false, The lights of his native Boyle and Carrick-on-Shannon can be seen twinkling across the water as dusk falls. subscriptionFinishDate: purchase.granted_by_purchase.finish_at, Season 12 Episode 1 of Grand Designs resulted in a 0.00 rating in the 18-49 demographic. : getPricesByBadge(); }, 500) el.querySelector('button[data-price_id]').style.display = 'none'; if (!isHomeDelivery) { if (subscribeLink) { let productImpressionRecorded = {}; Full-day Tours from $54.21 per adult Cliffs of Moher and Burren Day Trip, Including Dunguaire Castle, Aillwee Cave, and Doolin from Galway 669 Recommended Bus Tours from $48.79 per adult Connemara Day Trip from Galway: Cong and the Kylemore Abbey 335 Recommended Full-day Tours from $37.95 per adult addShopFrontClasses(plan); } A long time later he purchased it with transforming it into a dynamite dramatic false sixteenth century home complete with excellent baronial lobby extravagance rooms clearing staircases. badgeToUse = badge; successful_upgrade_redirect_url = 'https://member.independent.ie/'; upgradesAvailable = true; Aran Islands Cliffs of . } enable_showcase: true, Over the following years, with grants from the local council it was made safe again. productClickSource = window.shopFrontHeaderSubscribe ? It describes the embodiment of every one of us when we were growing up. All the new construction within the castle has degraded dramatically. if (eventType === 'purchasing') { But he is in need ofongoing financing to complete the restoration of both castles. if(priceholder.dataset.contract_periods !== null && priceholder.dataset.contract_periods !== '' && priceholder.dataset.contract_periods == 12) { return []; window.loadGTM(); } But an American investor stepped in and provided the necessary funding for him to retain ownership and continue his renovation of Cloontykilla Castle and preservation of McDermotts Castle. } const fireCheckoutEvent = function () { ? window.showNonSubscriberElements(); }); } fpblock.classList.add('fp-prevent-html-replace'); p_tag.appendChild(span_tag); let cookieValue = parts.join('='); } Discover your full benefits as a Premium subscriber. : [], } expiry: now.getTime() + subscriptionwallPricesSelectedExpiry, } flipPayConfig = Object.assign(flipPayConfig, { It was built\u00a0on what was once the sprawling 3,000 acre Rockingham demesne and estate that was bought by the famous British architect John Nash, who designed Buckingham Palace.He\u00a0fell in love and vowed to become rich one day and buy it\u00a0and the crumbling 14th century McDermott\u0026amp;rsquo;s Castle nearby that sits majestically on Castle Island \u2013\u00a0also known as \u0026amp;ldquo;The Rock\u0026amp;rdquo; \u2013\u00a0its own tiny island in the middle of Lough Key.Following his success as an actor in London\u0026amp;rsquo;s West End where he had\u00a0lead roles in hit productions of \u00a0and played Elvis Presley in \u00a0as well as appearing alongside Gabriel Byrne in\u00a0\u00a0and other films, he had the means to buy both properties from Coillte.Asked at the time \u2013 now 25 years ago \u2013 why be bought it, he simply replied: \u0026amp;ldquo;Because it\u0026amp;rsquo;s a castle and I love it.\u0026amp;rdquo; It is a love that has not faded.This year will not only mark a decade since his restoration of Cloontykilla Castle, which was one of the most watched episodes of Channel 4\u0026amp;rsquo;s \u00a0programme, it also heralds the start of a new investment fund that he launched on January 1.He hopes the fund\u00a0will enable him to protect\u00a0McDermott\u0026amp;rsquo;s Castle from further decay and eventually restore it and put the finishing touches on his decades-long restoration of Cloontykilla Castle.He almost lost both properties following the 2008 property crash when Ulster Bank\u00a0sold on his\u00a0loan to Seaconview, a vulture fund, that sought to auction off the property.