A SIGN OF THE TIMES AND HOW THE RECESSION HAS HIT IRELAND

ABBEVILLE, the former home of Taoiseach Charles Haughey, has just been sold for a sum believed to be in the order of €5.5m, the Irish Independent can reveal. I have visited this home on many occasions in the past mostly with my parents, what a magnificent home it is. The sale includes the famous 18th Century James Gandon designed mansion along with the entire Kinsealy estate of 250 acres. The sale price represents a fraction of the €45m for which the Haughey family originally sold the house and estate in 2004 to the Manor Park home building firm.

The property had been placed on the market by the receivers, Kavanagh Fennells in the middle of last year when it was first offered at €7.5m. Sherry FitzGerald, the estate agency firm which achieved the sale, would not comment yesterday on whether a deal had taken place although there has been speculation that an announcement will be made at some time today in relation to the disposal. The James Gandon designed mansion has 14 bedrooms, and 6 reception rooms across 14,600 square foot over four floors. However, the house is need of a serious upgrade which could set the new owner back millions in order to conform with strict heritage guidelines. Market sources say the Kinsealy estate was acquired by an overseas based investor with some quarters speculating that the buyer is most likely UK based, and that it will most likely be kept as a private luxury home rather than the estate being broken up for development purposes. Early last month there was a break through in the sale campaign when Sherry FitzGerald entered an exclusivity agreement with a overseas buyer. The deal, which is believed to have been signed for four week period, was designed to ring fence the property from other bidders and to give the interested party a designated period of grace in which to conduct due diligence and necessary surveys prior to a sale.