€30m knocked off price of late Ryanair founder's home
Tony Ryan painstakingly restored the Lyons Demesne mansion in Co Kildare in the years before his death
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THE stately home of the late Ryanair founder Tony Ryan -- the 600-acre Lyons Demesne estate -- has had its asking price slashed from €80m to €50m in an effort to drum up interest from potential buyers.
The sumptuously appointed property, which the Ryanair founder had restored with painstaking attention to detail and at a cost of €100m in the years before his death in 2007, had been placed quietly on the market last year by his sons, Declan and Shane Ryan.
With the property market in the doldrums, however, the Co Kildare estate failed to attract any interest at €80m -- the highest price ever asked for an Irish house.
Now, the house has been placed on the open market for €50m, with an advertisement describing it as "one of the great homes of Ireland" and "a rare and perfect example" of traditional Georgian architecture.
The house is being marketed internationally through the Christie's Great Estates Agency.
Commenting on the Lyons Demesne, Christie's chief executive officer Neil Palmer described it as "one of the most extraordinary estates" he has seen.
Referring to the restoration works carried out by its late owner, Tony Ryan, Mr Palmer said: "An impressive team of more than 100 professionals worked with the Lyons Demesne's owners to complete a restoration of incredible scope and attention to detail, and the results speak for themselves."
Indeed, the achievement of Tony Ryan's labour of love was recognised long before his demise, with the restoration of the Kildare estate earning him the Europa Nostra and Institut International des Châteaux Historiques joint award for refurbishment.
The house -- originally commissioned by Lord Cloncurry in 1785 -- contains 19th-century Italian frescoes by artist Gaspare Gabrielli in its drawing room, a private cinema, gymnasium, wine cellar, a half-Olympic sized indoor swimming pool, seven bedrooms in the main house, as well as four additional bedrooms in a self-contained guest wing.
Staff quarters are located on the first floor of the house's north wing, while five lodges are dotted around the 600-acre estate's perimeter.
Outside, the house is surrounded by formal gardens replanted to their original 18th century design and a 22-acre spring-fed lake stocked with trout and equipped with a boathouse.
- Ronald Quinlan
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