Historic castle that survived Oliver Cromwell attack for sale - for less than average house

If you are looking for a property project with a bit of a backstory, this castle that has just gone up for sale could be just what you’re looking for. The 'very special and unique' Castle Donovan has hit the market and it has had quite the history.

Located three miles north of Drimoleague in West Cork, Ireland, it remained standing despite being severely damaged by the English Civil War figure in the 1640s, and could provide the adventurous sort with a very unusual ‘fixer-upper’. 

With an asking price of €200,000 (£168,000), it is substantially less than the average price of a house in the UK as of January this year - which was reported to be £281,913.

Nestled within the 'rugged' mountain range on a 'very solid' rock foundation, the imposing 60ft-high property was built in 1560 by Donal O'Donovan and was the seat of the O'Donovan clan. Castle Donovan's walls are six feet thick and it has a gothic limestone arch entrance with a heavy oak door in addition to approximately three acres of land.

In the late 1640s, it was supposedly damaged by Cromwell's soldiers using powder to cause an explosion that left cracks in the masonry, causing the structure to be unsafe. It is believed the attack was in retaliation for Donal III O'Donovan joining the Stuarts and being involved in rebellions.

The property then suffered further damage in 1936 as the South West corner collapsed, but thankfully the staircase was left intact. Since then, Castle Donovan has undergone extensive conservation by the Office of Public Works between 2001 and 2014 and is now a listed National Monument.

The castle is amusingly listed on one property website as a 'three-bed house'. Now the owner of the historic building has approached David Busteed, the director of estate agents Sherry FitzGerald, to sell the property. 

David said: "There have been books written about the castle. It's got a very old history, it's in the lovely city of West Cork, a lovely rural city. When Cromwell was around all those years ago, he did damage the castle. One of the walls was obviously hit and you can see the cracks.

"There's a few people inquiring so they're exploring their options and looking into it. It's relatively new on the market so people are just doing research and their homework at the moment.

"I think that there could be inquiries from the US. There could very well be some wealthy individual with the name of Donovan who might have the money to buy a castle in Ireland. It's peaceful, tranquil, quiet so certainly it's a lovely project if the right person or party were to purchase it and bring it back to its former glory."