Emerald Isle: 5 Fine Homes in Ireland

“May your blessings outnumber the shamrocks that grow, and may trouble avoid you wherever you go.”—Traditional Gaelic blessing 

Ah, St. Patrick’s Day, when all the world seems to go a bit green, and everybody—everybody—feels a little Irish if only just for a day. It is Lá Fhéile Pádraig, The Day of the Festival of Patrick, Paddy’s Day, … so here’s to your health: Slainte! 

Before we take up the traditional revelry and craic of St. Patrick’s Day, we dedicate this edition of Luxury Defined to the great homes of Ireland.   

Start in the Fair City itself, Dublin, in a distinguished Victorian red-brick house in Sandymount, and a contemporary aerie on the windswept Howth Peninsula; then to the hills and forests of County Cork, where Blackwater Castle has its roots in the 12th century and its amenities in the 21st; thence to a world-class equestrian estate and a Georgian dower house in “The Garden of Ireland,” County Wicklow. 

We celebrate the emerald isle of green fields and mists, the land of Saints and Scholars, poteen and peat smoke, the harp and the dance, forever Ireland! 

Cead míle fáilte! 

1. Dungriffan in Sandymount, Dublin, Ireland  

One of upscale Dublin 4’s largest and finest homes, Dungriffan encompasses 6,405 square feet of living space and 0.4 hectares (about an acre) of private grounds in the leafy neighborhood of Sandymount.    

Built at the end of the 19th century, this distinguished red brick residence was extended with great imagination and flair.   

On the main level are several interconnected reception rooms, including a double drawing room, music room, chess salon, and a formal dining room served by a vast gourmet kitchen with an aga, breakfast bar, and pantry.  

A mahogany staircase rises to five bedrooms on the upper two floors, as well as a study and a custom-designed games room with a full-size snooker table and foosball table. A spiral staircase rises to a cozy, wood-paneled snug on the upper level. 

Dungriffan’s gardens are distinctive. At the front, electronic security gates open to a graveled forecourt with boxed hedges, mature trees, and eight parking spaces. Beyond an arched door in an ivy-clad stone wall is an immaculate lawn, a stone patio, paved walkways, and a pavilion housing a heated pool. 

2. Oceanfront House in Howth, Dublin, Ireland 

Oceanfront House is a magnificent contemporary home on Dublin’s windswept Howth Peninsula—an ancient landscape that inspired Irish literary greats James Joyce and Samuel Beckett. 

Oceanfront House is at one with its private, 2.9-hectare (7.2-acre) setting on the Hill of Howth—one of the most coveted coastal locations on the Emerald Isle. 

This striking contemporary home affords splendid isolation but with every modern luxury. The structure itself pays homage to its surroundings through the use of local materials that blend seamlessly into the rocky landscape. 

The roof is covered in sustainable, corrosion-resistant zinc, and offers two roof terraces from which to take in a coastal panorama of Ireland’s Eye, Lambay Island, Howth Harbour, and the Irish Sea beyond. 

The floor plan is composed of a split-level, single-story wing and a two-story bedroom wing offering 3,390 square feet of airy, light-filled living space. 

The grounds are surrounded by 121 hectares (300 acres) of conservation land designated as an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. Howth Village, with its charming pubs and restaurants, is a short stroll away.  

3. Spruce Lodge in Ballyrogan, Co. Wicklow, Ireland 

A fine, 19th-century Georgian country manor in the heart of Wicklow horse country, Spruce Lodge is also an internationally famous training center for horses and riders from beginner to international competitor. 

The vine-clad main house is offered turnkey, its period features intact and updated with contemporary creature comforts. There are also five separate accommodations, including a manager’s house, a garden cottage, and three apartments.  

 At the heart of it all is the equestrian center, offering 32 loose boxes, indoor and outdoor arenas, a cross-country course, a conference center, extensive post-and-rail fenced paddocks and grazing, all linked by internal roadways.  

The estate’s grounds include formal gardens, a Georgian-style kitchen garden, and herb and fruit gardens, and lovely woodland walks extending to the banks of the Redcross River. The private lake has a viewing jetty and lakeside chalet. There are 7 hectares (17.3 acres) of commercial forestry, made up of oak, alder, ash, birch, Scots pine, hazel and cherry.  

The estate is within an hour of Dublin Airport and the city center, and Leopardstown Racecourse is just 45 minutes’ drive. 

Related: Explore Exceptional Equestrian Estates

4. Blackwater Castle in Castletownroche, County Cork, Ireland 

Blackwater Castle was built in the 12th century on the site of an ancient promontory fort on the banks of the River Awbeg in County Cork. 

Much of its history is set down in the Book of Fermoy, a 15th-century manuscript in Dublin’s Royal Irish Academy. It documents the Roche family, who occupied the castle from 1100 to 1666. Sir Walter Raleigh captured the castle in 1580, and Oliver Cromwell laid siege to Blackwater in 1649. 

Today, the castle and its magnificent 24-hectare (60-acre) grounds are a private home and an exclusive hospitality venue.  

The Norman tower keep, built in the mid-15th century, retains the standard features to fend off attackers: uneven steps (trip steps), a murder hole (to rain unpleasantness on unwelcome visitors), sloping batter walls, and a garderobe (overhanging privy room).  

Mature woodland surrounds the imposing castle and its courtyard while expanses of neat mown lawn create lovely open spaces. The fruit and vegetable gardens and greenhouse are bordered by dense shrubbery. One kilometer (0.6 miles) of the River Awbeg provides private double-bank fishing rights.  

5. Glenbrook House in Delgany, County Wicklow 

The elegant symmetries and order of Glenbrook House stand serenely in the village of Delgany, County Wicklow. It was built circa 1800 as a Georgian gentleman’s residence, with a stylistically harmonious rear extension added in 2001. 

A three-bay, two-story-over-basement country home, it is a dower or a glebe house (a parsonage or a widow’s residence, respectively, on another grander home’s property), and it is listed by Ireland’s National Inventory of Architectural Heritage to be of significant architectural, artistic, historical, and social interest.  

The Georgian front wing houses an elegantly arched reception hall, which opens to the drawing room and dining room, each with a period fireplace, original plaster work, and fine bay windows facing the gardens. Farther along is a family room (with its own wood-burning hearth) and an office/study.  The kitchen is a new addition. 

Upstairs, an L-shaped gallery landing leads to four double bedrooms, including the principal suite. All told, there are seven bedrooms and four full bathrooms.  

The grounds, about 1.33 hectares (3.3 acres) in all, are well screened by established hedgerows and mature trees, and include a useful range of outbuildings for the hobbyist. 

Looking for a patch of paradise in Eire? Explore our portfolio of homes in Ireland, here.