Historic Moate Castle on sale for €650,000

The landmark Moate Castle, which has dominated the Main Street in the town for centuries, has gone on sale with an asking price of €650,000.

Details of the sale, which also includes 11 acres of meticulously maintained grounds and a number of outbuildings, have been posted online and the sale is being handed by the Dublin office of Lisney Sotherby's International Realty.

For the past 51 years, Moate Castle has been occupied and maintained by the Mitchell family, who engaged in numerous restoration projects over the years. It was the birthplace of Ethel Mitchell, a professionally trained wedding florist who ran a very successful family run business, Castle Flowers, from one of the outbuildings located on the castle grounds, while her brother, Reggie, had a long association with Moate Agricultural Show and also looked after the gardens at the house.

The iconic detached Moate Castle on Moate's Main Street, was originally built around the year 1500 by the Lord of Clancolman, O Melaghlin, who built it as a symbol of power and prestige. It changed hands several times over the centuries and was owned at one stage by the Clibborn family.

According to the details which have been uploaded to the property website, and are accompanied by 32 photographs, Moate Castle dates back to the early 1500s and is a detached two-bay, three-storey structure with seven bedrooms.

The castle has undergone “several additions and renovations” over the centuries, including the addition of a two-storey bowed extension at the eastern end of the propoerty in 1760.

Among the many architectural features of the iconic property is a sheila-na-gig, which is a figurative carving symbolizing life-giving powers and fertility and is located in the walled courtyard. Other notable features of the courtyard include cut stone detailing and pointed arched window openings.

As well as seven bedrooms, the main house has four dressing rooms, a downstairs bathroom, and a large cellar which is in need of restoration. Two wings were added to the east and west of the main house, with the west wing in need of restoration having “fallen into disrepair” according to the property description on the myhome.ie website. The sitting room on the ground floor has “picturesque views of Moate town,” the listing added.

The property is BER exempt and the building has been described in the documents as being “a remarkable testament to Ireland's rich architectural heritage".