The original owners of a 15th Century castle in Athy, Co Kildare, which sold at auction last Friday, have said they are delighted that it is set to become a family home again.
The Doyle family sold White's Castle seven years ago for €1.3 million. Last Friday at the Allsop Space auction at the Shelbourne Hotel though, it was snapped up for just €195,000 by an American family looking to settle here.
Terry Doyle – whose family owned the castle for 110 years before it was sold in 2005 - described the fee paid as a “bargain” and said he was delighted that a family would be moving into it.
“I was worried about who would buy it,” he said, “but if someone spent that they must be going to live in it. It is going to be looked after and turned into a family home.”
The mystery bidder for the castle at Friday’s auction said: "I have bought it on behalf of a friend who is from Galway and has a family. They are in the US at the moment and intend to renovate the castle as a private property."
