SMALL PRINT:LIKES BUSES, you wait years for a house with a fascist past to come up for sale and then three arrive together.
With a Nazi safe house currently for sale in Dublin and the former home of Nazi war criminal Pieter Menten on offer in Waterford, it’s fitting that a house in Cork with links to one of the most famous British fascists of all, Sir Oswald Mosley, is currently on the market.
Ileclash House, on the River Blackwater near Fermoy, was where Mosley, the former leader of the British Union of Fascists, lived for a time with his second wife Diana, who was one of the famous Mitford sisters. The couple had married in secret in Germany in 1936, at the home of Nazi propaganda chief Joseph Goebbels. Hitler was among their wedding guests.
When they first moved to Ireland they lived in a bishop’s palace in Galway, but it burned down shortly after they moved in. They bought Ileclash House as a summer residence sometime in the 1950s. The house is considered one of the jewels of the Blackwater Valley, with a mid-Georgian five-bay two-storey front and views over the surrounding countryside and rivers.
The owners of the property declined to be interviewed about the property’s past, as did the estate agents handling the sale, Michael H Daniels. The property brochure, however, does take account of the Mosley link, by stating: “The house was restored and later purchased by the British political activist, Sir Oswald Mosley, who lived here with his second wife and society beauty, Diana Mitford who fell from grace on her marriage to him.”
Included in the property are five reception rooms, six bedrooms, library, gym, studios, walled gardens and terraced lawns. The price is currently on application, but when the house was for sale in 2008, a figure of €4.25 million was quoted.
A Kildare holiday for Be yoncé
AS IRELAND GEARS up for the other Queen’s visit with the announcement that Beyoncé is playing Oxegen, one wonders if she’ll have as eclectic a tour diary as Queen Elizabeth II?
Beyoncé famously spent an afternoon cycling through Phoenix Park in Dublin the last time she touched down here, but given that Kildare will be her stop this time, perhaps it’s time for Mrs Jay-Z to broaden her horizons on her downtime with the “Top Five Beyoncé-Friendly Kildare Activities”.
1. Japanese GardensBeyoncé's sister Solange recently started a T-shirt line called Julez For Japan, with proceeds going to the Japanese relief effort, so perhaps B would like to check out the Japanese Gardens at the National Stud in Tully for some further inspiration.
2. Museum of Style IconsWe know Beyoncé is a big Michael Jackson fan, as evidenced by the Destiny's Child dance routine in the 2001 video for Bootylicious, so there's even more reason for Beyoncé to knock into the Museum of Style Icons in Kildare, which houses Michael Jackson's rhinestone glove that he wore during his 1983 performance of Billie Jeanat the Motown 25 television special, when he performed the Moonwalk for the first time.
3. Castletown HouseBeyoncé can marvel at the period furniture and distinctive Alessandro Galilei architecture. Or, you know, just buy it.
4. Kildare Village Outlet ShoppingWhile dressing in everything from robot suits to black leotards, Beyoncé might want to pick up something a little more local for her Oxegen performance, which means one thing: storming the Kildare Village Outlet Shopping mall, which stocks Beyoncé favourites Reiss and Calvin Klein.
5. Newbridge Silverware FactoryLike it? Want to put a ring on it? The Newbridge Silverware factory is a likely stop for Beyoncé, where she could probably afford to buy a ring for all the single ladies in Ireland.
