Newhall House, Ennis, bought in trust for €1.7m

Newhall House, Ennis, Co Clare, has been sold. Standing on 310 acres, the property came to the market with an 18th century mansion, four gate lodges, a walled garden, two lakes, a courtyard and 310 acres of woodland, parkland and grassland.

At last week’s auction, joint agents David Ashmore from Ireland Sotheby’s International Realty and Owen Reilly Consultant, Dublin, offered the property in a number of lots that included the house on 65 acres, on 294 acres and in its entire.

After a number of rounds of bidding, the property was eventually put on the market in its entirety at €1.7m, and with no further movement, sold at €1.7m. It’s understood the property was bought in trust by a solicitor. However, during the course of the selling campaign, a significant proportion of the interest stemmed from international buyers.

David Ashmore from Ireland Sotheby’s International has found that up to 70% of buyers for country homes and estates in this country over the past five years have been overseas customers, with the US market particularly buoyant in recent times. The agents appeared to have got the pricing spot on as the advised minimum value was €1.7m also.

Designed by Francis Bindon in 1765 for Charles MacDonnell MP, Newhall House has a distinctive brick exterior and comprises three storeys with two bays to either side of a central three-sided bow. Although requiring refurbishment, the 15-bed house retains many of the original features and extends to no less than 15,000 square feet. The land incorporates circa 150 acres of mature deciduous forestry and also the ruins of Killone Abbey, which dates back to the 1180s.

Originally from Co Galway, the Joyce family moved to Newhall in 1921 and the property was sold by the family of the late Patrick Francis Joyce who occupied the property until recent years. Newhall was initially brought to the market on 360 acres in 2013 at a guide price of around €5m.