Stunning 5* golf hotel at the ancestral home of the Plunkett family

The first castle on this site was built in 1181 by Geoffrey de Cusack, a Norman who came to Ireland with Hugh de Lacy. The de Cusacks and their descendants, the de Tuits lived here until around 1402 when Sir Christopher Plunkett (c.1370–c. 1445) married into the family. It is believed that the tomb in the church ruins holds the remains of Christopher and his wife Lady Joan de Cusack. The Plunketts became the Earls of Fingall and are one of the few great Catholic Anglo-Irish families to survive into the 20th century. In the early 1800s, the 8th and 9th Earls engaged renowned architects, Francis Johnson and James Sheil to modernize the castle to create what you see today. The 12th (and last) Earl of Fingall sold the castle in 1951 and the estate was run as a stud farm. In 1981 the castle fell victim to fire and lay dormant until 1997 when Snowbury Ltd purchased it with a vision to create a magnificent 5* hotel and golf course.