Historic house and demesne in County Roscommon up for auction

Former stately home Loughglynn House and the surrounding demesne will be auctioned online on October 17th with a significantly reduced price tag of €425,000.

The 18th century Georgian country estate on almost 20 acres comprises two period houses together with church buildings, courtyard buildings and a caretaker’s cottage.

The unique property had previously been on the market for €850,000 two years ago but is now going for half that price.

The historic house was originally built as a country residence for Viscount Dillon and his family in 1715. The Dillons lived primarily in the UK while land agents lived in the house, including the Strickland family. 

The lake at the back of the house was artificially constructed as a birthday present for Charles Strickland's wife.

In 1899, the house was bought by the Bishop of Elphin and three years later, it was handed over to the Franciscan Missionaries of Mary to use as a convent.

The nuns ran a school there teaching various skills such as lace-making and domestic science, as well as establishing a dairy farm which produced their famous cheese. A chapel was built on the grounds in the 1970s.

From 1973, the complex operated as a nursing home until 2003 when the property was sold by the nuns to a development company.

The company had previously secured planning permission to develop it into a luxury hotel complex. However, those ambitious plans were scuppered by the economic crash, and the buildings fell into disrepair and became victim to extensive vandalism and theft.

Following a period of neglect, the present owners purchased the property in 2014, and carried out remedial and preventive works on the property.

The online auction on Thursday, October 17th will be handled by BidX1, a company claiming to be "Europe’s leading Digital Property Marketplace”.