THE LAVISH Co Kildare estate owned by the late Tony Ryan, founder of Ryanair, has had its price cut by €30 million in a renewed bid to sell the 600-acre property.
Last year the tycoon’s sons, Declan and Shane Ryan, put the Co Kildare estate quietly on the market at €80 million – the highest price ever asked for an Irish house. No buyer emerged and this week Lyons Demesne was offered on the open market – for €50 million.
Advertised in Country Lifemagazine as "one of the great homes of Ireland" and "a rare and perfect example of traditional Georgian architecture", the 1790s house and surrounding land is now available at €50 million, according to a spokesperson for the Ryan family.
The house is being marketed internationally through the Christie’s Great Estates agency. The house boasts one of the finest drawing rooms in the country with museum-quality frescoes, 10 guest bedroom suites, a private cinema, a half-Olympic sized swimming pool. The grounds include a 22- acre lake, a private landing strip and stables.
Mr Ryan, who died in 2007, bought Lyons in 1996 and renovated it completely. The estate had previously been an agricultural college and was in poor condition. “You couldn’t imagine how bad it was,” Mr Ryan told The Irish Times in 1999, explaining how he had rebuilt the roof and installed 130 new windows.
Once finished, the house was furnished with the finest of Irish antiques repatriated from all over the world. At the height of the property boom, the estate was valued at more than €100 million.
A village was built from scratch on the fringes of the estate near Newcastle, Co Dublin. The village at Lyons, as it is now known, has a restaurant, businesses and houses that are currently let. It is not being included in the sale.