Mark Zuckerberg buys Strancally Castle in Ireland

Billionaire Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg and his wife, Priscilla Chan, have bought the Gothic Revival Strancally Castle in County Waterford, Ireland. The previous owners were the family of financier Michael Alen-Buckley, who spent the past 20+ years restoring the castle, according to The Irish Times.

Check the restoration process and the pictures here.

Built in 1830 by architects James and George Richard Pain, the three-storey castle sits on 440 acres overlooking the River Blackwater, with views across the surrounding hills and fields. It is located about 200 kilometres from the Irish capital, Dublin.

Strancally Castle is believed to stand on the site of an earlier fortification — namely the 12th-century stronghold of Raymond 'le Gros' Fitzgerald, built during the Anglo-Norman invasion of Ireland. Antiquities of Ireland, published in 1791, describes the original castle as a stronghold "built on a rock directly over the river."

The book goes on to say that the fortress was later used as a prison by one of the Earls of Desmond. According to the account, the earl would throw the bodies of prisoners through "a hole cut through the rock in the manner of a portcullis". Antiquities of Ireland claims that the "horrible practices committed here" prompted the government to order both the cave and castle to be demolished. Half of the castle was subsequently "blown up", with gunpowder "splitting it from top to bottom".

The purchase of Strancally Castle marks the first addition of this type of property to Mark Zuckerberg's portfolio.