February 16, 2011
By Staff Reporter
By Andrew Bushe
DUBLIN — The Irish government has bought one of the most palatial private houses in the country, the Farmleigh Estate, at Phoenix Park, for £23 million to accommodate visiting heads of state and for important state functions.
The Victorian-Georgian mansion has been the home of the earls of Iveagh branch of the Guinness brewing family for 130 years.
Under the terms of the purchase deal, the contents of the house, including its library, with its unique collection of Irish manuscripts, will remain on site as a loan from the family.
In announcing the purchase, Taoiseach Bertie Ahern said he wanted Farmleigh to be as "open as possible" for the public and it would also be used extensively for cultural purposes.
The Iveagh family is now based in England and they have used the house only occasionally since the death of the third earl of Iveagh, Benjamin Guinness, in 1992. He had made it his permanent home when he became a tax exile in Ireland. He served as Taoiseach Liam Cosgrave’s nominee in the Seanad.
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The present earl, his brother Rory Guinness, and two sisters, Lady Emma and Lady Louisa, have spent much of their time at the family’s 23,000 acre Elveden Estate in Suffolk. The family was recently ranked 26th on the Sunday Times "rich list," with an estimated fortune of £680 million.
Though Farmleigh is sold, the family retains a property link in Ireland with its 700-acre farm at Kilrue, Co. Meath.
Farmleigh has six reception rooms, 20 bedrooms and 14 bathrooms, It stands on 78 acres of parkland, 25 of them laid out in formal gardens
The most spectacular room is the ballroom, which spans the width of the house. Much of the original cornicing and paintwork has remained untouched since the house was completed in 1881 and many of he walls are covered with the original tapestries.
The estate also includes eight staff houses, two apartments and a courtyard.
The Office of Public Works made an extensive survey of the house earlier this year after the Iveaghs approached the government about buying it. The house was lent to the state in 1975 for the first meeting of foreign ministers after Ireland joined the EU.
Other famous Iveagh homes include their townhouse on St. Stephen’s Green, which is now the Department of Foreign Affairs (it and the Green were donated to the State in 1943) and Ashford Castle in Cong, Co. Mayo, which is now a hotel.