Mark Zuckerberg Just Bought a 19th

Mark Zuckerberg has added an Irish castle to his already formidable real estate portfolio, giving the Meta CEO a 440-acre foothold on the Emerald Isle. Zuckerberg and his wife, Priscilla Chan, recently bought Strancally Castle, a Gothic Revival estate overlooking the River Blackwater in County Waterford, according to The Irish Times, which first reported the deal. The off-market purchase has not yet appeared on Ireland’s property register, and the price remains under wraps, but the estate is said to be worth somewhere between 20 million euros and 30 million euros, or roughly $23 million to $35 million. The three-story, 16,000-square-foot castle, with 11 principal bedrooms, was built around 1830 for John Keily, a former member of Parliament, and designed by brothers James and George Richard Pain, the architects behind Dromoland Castle, now a five-star hotel, and Blackrock Castle near Cork. The property was extensively restored over the past two decades by its previous owners, Michael and Giancarla Alen-Buckley, who bought the estate 25 years ago. The Alen-Buckleys are leaving behind a home they clearly cared deeply about. Michael, a co-founder of London investment firm RAB Capital, and Giancarla, the daughter of the late hotelier Charles Forte and sister of Rocco Forte, spent years restoring the property and its grounds. In a statement to The Irish Times, they said they were pleased Zuckerberg and his family planned to continue caring for the estate. Zuckerberg’s team confirmed the purchase, saying the family is looking forward to spending time in Ireland, where Meta has its international headquarters. Zuckerberg and Chan are expected to keep their primary home in the U.S. and use Strancally as a European base. Meta has operated its Dublin headquarters since 2009 and employs roughly 1,500 people in Ireland. The castle’s surroundings are almost as interesting as the castle itself. Nearby is Ballynatray House, acquired by billionaire inventor James Dyson in 2024, along with Lismore Castle, the longtime Irish seat of the Dukes of Devonshire. Salterbridge House is also nearby. Strancally has a bit of folklore attached to it, too. It’s the subject of a centuries-old local legend involving unsuspecting guests and a hidden passage beneath the castle. English writer William Howitt recounted the gruesome tale in an 1847 book, though he was skeptical of the story. Still, Zuckerberg’s taste in property suggests the castle’s acreage may be the real draw. In Palo Alto, he spent more than $43 million assembling neighboring properties into a private compound. His Hawaii holdings span thousands of acres, while his Lake Tahoe compound combines two adjoining lakefront estates. He also maintains a $23 million Washington, D.C., mansion and a $170 million waterfront estate on Miami’s Indian Creek Island. And this isn’t Zuckerberg’s first attempt at an Irish address. Last year, billionaire John Malone said the Meta chief had tried to buy his Castlemartin House and Estate in County Kildare, according to The Wall Street Journal. That deal went nowhere. This one, however, has landed Zuckerberg a castle, a riverfront setting, and 440 acres of Irish countryside to call his own. Comments