Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg and his wife Priscilla Chan have purchased a massive 19th-century, Gothic-style castle in Ireland, the billionaire’s spokesman confirmed Thursday.
Zuckerberg bought the three-story, cut-stone Strancally Castle, which sits on a 440-acre property, from financier Michael Alen-Buckley’s family in recent weeks, the Irish Times first reported.
“Mark and his family are excited to continue caring for this historic home and look forward to spending time in Ireland, where Meta maintains its international headquarters,” a spokesman for Zuckerberg said in a statement.
The transaction was not listed on public records, but the 16,000 square-foot tower, which overlooks the River Blackwater, is worth an estimated $23 million to $35 million, according to the Irish Times.
Zuckerberg and Chan are expected to continue living in the US and use the castle when they visit Ireland, where Meta employs about 1,500 people.
The Strancally Castle is 125 miles from Meta’s international headquarters in Dublin, where many American tech firms base their EU operations to take advantage of Ireland’s historically low corporate tax rates. The company also operates a data center outside the city.
Architects James and George Richard Pain designed the castle, which was built around 1830 for John Keily, a former English Tory politician, in County Waterford, according to reports.
“The Houses of Ireland,” a book by Brian De Breffney and Rosemary Ffolliott, described the castle as a lavish property – requiring “a brisk walk of 4 ½ minutes to reach the dining room from the kitchen.”
William Howitt, an English writer who died in 1879, implied the property had a gruesome history – perhaps as a Desmond Castle, a type of medieval fortress used by the Earls of Desmond across Ireland.
“The unwary, when decoyed within the castle, were tied hand and foot, and hung down the murder-hole – the rapid river hurried by, and soon carried away their gasping shrieks, and the dead told no tales,” Howitt wrote.
The Alen-Buckley family had extensively renovated the castle over the past 25 years.
It is located near several other massive properties, including Ballynatray House, which was bought for about $34 million in 2024 by British business magnate James Dyson, known for the Dyson Company.
