Mark Zuckerberg Just Bought a 200-Year-Old Irish Castle Worth €30m — But There's a Catch

Mark Zuckerberg, a man who once built a 1,400-acre compound in Hawaii with its own underground bunker and a "tunnel," has done the thing every tech billionaire eventually does when the Hawaii compound stops feeling special: he's bought an Irish castle.

The Irish Times broke the news Thursday morning. Zuckerberg and his wife, Priscilla Chan, have purchased Strancally Castle, a Gothic-revival pile sitting on 440 acres above the River Blackwater in County Waterford. The deal was off-market, closed "several weeks ago," and the price hasn't hit the public register yet, but the paper's estimate is somewhere between €20 million and €30 million. A spokesperson confirmed it, adding that the family is "excited to continue caring for this historic home," which is billionaire for "yes, we bought the castle."

About the Castle, Which Is Absurd

Strancally was built around 1830 for John Keily, a former Tory MP, by James and George Richard Pain, the architect brothers who also did Dromoland Castle and, delightfully, Cork County Gaol. So the man who built your timeline has bought a house by the people who built a jail. I'm not drawing any conclusions. I'm just typing.

Some specifics, because the specifics are the whole point:

• Three storeys, 16,000 square feet, which is roughly the floor plan of four suburban Costcos.
• 440 acres on the river, plus a folly tower and a private quay. A quay! For boats!
• According to The Houses of Ireland, the place was "designed on a lavish scale" — lavish enough that walking from the kitchen to the dining room takes a brisk four and a half minutes. Cold soup is not a risk. It's a certainty.
• It's been under full restoration for the past 20 years by the outgoing owners, Michael Alen-Buckley (co-founder of RAB Capital) and his wife Giancarla, who is a Forte of the Rocco Forte Hotels Fortes. They sent a lovely farewell statement about "stewardship" and wished the Zuckerbergs "much happiness in this unique and blessed place."

Somebody else spent 25 years and a private-equity fortune fixing up a castle, and then Mark Zuckerberg walked in and bought it. That's not a house purchase. That's a hostile takeover of a hobby.

The Neighbors

This is the part that made me laugh out loud. Strancally is a short distance from Ballynatray House, which James Dyson — vacuum man, hand-dryer man, Brexit-then-moved-to-Singapore man — bought in 2024 for about €29 million. Lismore Castle is nearby. So is Salterbridge House, owned by British property magnate Stephen Vernon.

The Blackwater Valley is, essentially, becoming the Hamptons for men who have strong opinions about airflow.

So What's the Catch?

Here it is: Zuckerberg and Chan aren't moving in. Per the Irish Times, they'll keep living in the United States and use Strancally "when in Ireland," which — given that Meta has had its European headquarters in Dublin since 2009 and employs about 1,500 people there — means this is a €30 million crash pad for the occasional regulatory hearing.

A 200-year-old castle with a quay and a tower and a 4.5-minute hallway, and it will mostly be empty. The pheasants will have the run of the place. Honestly, good for the pheasants.

It's also worth noting this was Zuckerberg's second swing. Last summer, Liberty Media billionaire John Malone told the Wall Street Journal that Zuck had tried to buy his Castlemartin estate in Kildare. Malone said no. Imagine being turned down for a castle and just… buying a different castle. Imagine having that option. Imagine having a folly tower.

The richest man in Waterford now has a house he'll visit a few times a year and a neighbor whose life's work is making your hair dryer slightly louder. Ireland, you're welcome.