Mark Zuckerberg buys Irish castle

Meta Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Mark Zuckerberg has acquired Strancally Castle, a historic Gothic Revival estate in County Waterford, Ireland.

The purchase was confirmed by a spokesperson for Mark Zuckerberg, who noted that the tech executive and his family intend to use the property as a personal base during visits to the country. Meta, the parent firm of Facebook and Instagram, maintains its international headquarters in Dublin, employing around 1,500 people across its Irish operations.

Strancally Castle sits on a 440-acre estate along the banks of the River Blackwater, situated in a region with a population of approximately 130,000 residents. The original structure was commissioned around 1830 for former Conservative Member of Parliament (MP) John Keily.

Architects James Pain and George Richard Pain designed the main mansion using sandstone and limestone ashlar masonry. Historical archives document the exceptional scale of the property, noting that walking from the main kitchen to the dining room takes roughly four and a half minutes.

The estate previously underwent extensive restoration work after being purchased in the early 2000s by Michael Alen-Buckley, co-founder of private investment firm London Asset Management (LAM) group RAB Capital, alongside his wife, Giancarla Alen-Buckley. The former owners spent two decades preserving the 16,000-square-foot main residence and surrounding grounds.

"We leave our home of 25 years fondly, and we are grateful for the opportunity we have been given to save and restore Strancally Castle," Michael Alen-Buckley and Giancarla Alen-Buckley said in a joint statement regarding the sale. "We are delighted that Mark and his family intend to build on our stewardship by continuing to invest in maintaining and enhancing the property and grounds as their home in a sustainable manner."

The financial terms of the private transaction were not publicly disclosed, and the final sum has not yet appeared on Ireland's official Property Price Register (PPR). However, real estate market analysts estimate the market value of the 178-hectare property to be between 20 million euros and 30 million euros.

The acquisition adds to Mark Zuckerberg's extensive real estate portfolio, which includes substantial land holdings in Hawaii and California. The Blackwater Valley area in southeast Ireland has drawn several high-profile corporate figures in recent years, including James Dyson, who acquired the neighboring Ballynatray House estate.