Own an Irish castle for just over $100k

Famed Irish poet W. B. Yeats once tried to purchase this now derelict castle from its English owners. The 200-year-old folly is, unfortunately, uninhabitable.

An Irish castle could now be yours for just $102,000 (€90,000)! Well, you can't live in it but you'd own it. McDermott's castle in Co Roscommon is to go up for auction on December 13 but it, and the half-acre of island land it stands on, has gone to ruin and much more would have to be spent in order for it to be livable once again.

The fairytale island castle was once the dream home of W. B Yeats who tried to purchase it off the King family in 1899 but they were unwilling to part with the castle and its 800-year history, even for one of the country's greatest poets.

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While Yeats had wanted to turn it into a national heritage site, the family instead let it go to ruin and ivy has all but destroyed the building. Tourists can still view the castle, which is the center of many folklore and myths, by boat but none are allowed to set foot on the island itself.

The building now on the island is a folly that was built by the King family some 200 years ago but there has been a structure on the island since as far back as the 12th century.

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McDermott's Castle, Ireland pic.twitter.com/BfIlESuS1d
— Love Ireland (@LoveIreland3) May 3, 2017

It was owned by the McDermott clan until the 17th century when it was turned over to the English King family under the settlement enforced by Oliver Cromwell.

The island is steeped in myths including the tale of Úna Bán, the daughter of a McDermott chief who fell in love with a young boy her father banned her from seeing. The young boy would swim to visit her on the island but one day tragically drowned in the lake. Úna Bán is said to have died of grief and the young lovers are buried under an old twisted oak tree on the island.