Majestically positioned within a rolling parkland estate of 1,050 acres, and within a 60-minute drive from Dublin, the splendid Gothic Revival castle embodies one of the finest castellated country houses built in Ireland during the first half of the 19th century.
Knockdrin Castle was built for Sir Richard Levinge, who commissioned the residence circa 1810. The castle is noteworthy as one of the leading examples of the transition from Classicism to Gothic, possessing none of the heaviness customarily associated with the Gothic Revival movement, while benefiting from an abundance of natural light admitted by large windows in the south-facing reception rooms and a central glazed dome. Among the castle’s most striking features are the top-lit staircase and numerous doors painstakingly fashioned from carved oak, and an elaborate first-floor gallery decorated with fluted shafts and a sequence of ogee-headed niches around the walls. Reception rooms on the ground floor include a grand hall, drawing room, dining room, ballroom, and library.
“The foxes are as wild as the locals.”
Lady Churchill (mother of Sir Winston Churchill) following a hunting visit to Knockdrin Castle
Within the castle are seven bedrooms, including the Crown Bedroom where British Prime Minister Sir Winston Churchill stayed as a child, his parents being regular visitors to the estate. Four estate lodges complete the accommodation. Picturesque grounds beyond the castle include belts of highly productive arable lands, along with commercial woodland and a small lake. The core estate demesne is intact, relatively unique in Ireland, with the castle privately ensconced and enjoying uninterrupted views over estate lands to the distant hills beyond.
