Waterford estate sets record as British billionaire buys for more than €30 million

Ballynatray Estate, a sprawling 18th-century Georgian estate on the border of Cos Waterford and Cork, has become the most expensive private property in Ireland after it was sold for more than €30 million. 

It is widely reported that Ballynatray Estate on the Blackwater River in West Waterford has been sold to British billionaire and vacuum cleaner magnate James Dyson for €29.25 million. 

However, the total price of the sale is believed to be worth up to €35 million when the separate value of the 850 acres of land is included, according to the Irish Examiner. 

Dyson, who made his fortune through his eponymous company and the invention of bagless vacuum cleaners, already owns more than 35,000 acres of land in Britain, owning more land than King Charles III. 

Ballynatray House is located upriver from Youghal in County Cork and boasts commanding views of the Blackwater River. 

The first recorded house at the site was built in the early 17th century but was virtually destroyed by 1645. It was rebuilt as a Dutch-gabled structure in the 1690s, which was then incorporated into a very large Palladian House in 1795. 

Measuring over 21,000 sq ft, the Georgian mansion is 11 bays long and five bays wide, featuring nine en-suite bedrooms, two reception rooms, two dining rooms, and a great hall in addition to an indoor swimming pool. jacuzzi, snooker room, fitness room, and massage room. It also boasts a large terrace and helicopter landing facilities. 

Dyson has purchased the property from London and Waterford-based businessman Henry Gwyn-Jones, who purchased the property for €11 million two decades ago. Gwyn-Jones also doubled the estate's lands to 850 acres over the past 20 years.  

Ballynatray Estate now holds the record for the largest price ever paid for a private property in Ireland, eclipsing the €29 million paid by US billionaire John Malone for Tony O’Reilly’s Castlemartin Estate and stud farm in County Kildare in 2014.