The State has agreed to purchase 235 acres of land surrounding Castletown House in Co Kildare from brothers Lar and Sean McKenna for €11.25m.
The deal doubled the State-owned parklands around the house to 472 acres. The land was initially bought by the Straffan-based developers for €3m in 2022. The land is zoned for natural biodiversity rather than for urban development.
The deal will enable public parking and the main entrance route from the M4 to reopen after a two-year closure that began in September 2023. Works to restore the entrance and car park can start almost immediately after the agreement.
Access for OPW staff and service vehicles has also resumed fully following an interim arrangement reached in May 2025.
Vandals caused damage valued at €500,000 to OPW vehicles and facilities at Donaghcumper House in June 2025 when four vehicles were overturned and a construction vehicle drove into a river. Wires on four CCTV units were cut over a Bank Holiday weekend.
The attack occurred at a temporary site that the OPW used to allow staff access to Castletown House during the dispute.
Minister Kevin ‘Boxer’ Moran shared “the cost of the land deal was €11.25m had been approved by the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform because of the strategic importance of the land to the State. I am delighted with the development which he had committed to trying to achieve since he entered office in February of this year”.
