Ireland is home to more than 400 golf courses and, since 2008, it has the highest density of golf courses in Europe and a third of the world’s natural links courses. According to Golf Ireland, about 800,000 people engaged in some form of golf activity in 2024, with 500,00 adults having played on an 18-hole course at least once last year. It also found that 20 per cent of the nongolfing population were interested in participating in the sport.
While Mark Twain may have said that a game of golf is a good walk spoiled, there is no doubt that houses constructed on or near golf courses are sought after. And, when it comes to competition time, those with homes near the greens have the best seats in the house. Research by UK-based estate agent Strutt and Parker found that of all sporting venues, golf courses add the most value to a home, costing double the national average in some cases.
Joint agents Savills and Loman Dempsey have just launched the Lucas, at 12 The Oakwood, Killeen Castle in Dunsany, Co Meath, to the market, seeking €2.35 million. Extending to 665sq m (7,158sq ft), there’s a vast space for family living and entertaining in this three-storey home.
It is described in brochure notes as “one of the finest homes in the northeast”, and overlooks the 18-hole Jack Nicklaus signature golf course – one of only two Nicklaus-designed courses in Ireland, along with the one at Mount Juliet in Kilkenny, and one of the longest in the country. Life here is complemented by a clubhouse with locker rooms, short game and driving-range facilities, and post-play refreshments at the historical Killeen Castle, serving the flavours of the Boyne valley region.
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The history of Killeen Castle dates back to 1181 when it became the ancestral home of the Plunkett family, Earls of Fingal, for half a millennium until 1951. It was later purchased by developer Joe O’Reilly’s Castlethorn, who has transformed the place over the past 28 years.
In contrast to the towering Norman castle, the Lucas is a contemporary home. It was, according to selling agent Savills, one of the showhouses when these homes were first constructed in 2007, and the list of features is impressive. With six bedrooms, eight bathrooms and five reception rooms, its Ber of B3 is indicative of its energy-conscious construction.
Still in showhouse condition, the ground floor comprises a spacious reception hall, off which lie a sittingroom and separate diningroom. Bright and generously proportioned, these rooms are served by a kitchen/family room. With natural stone floors (also found in the bathrooms and hall areas), the bespoke kitchen has high-end Gaggenau and Wolf appliances with two sets of French doors opening out to a patio from the breakfast area, with a further set from an informal living space. Equally the formal diningroom, between the kitchen and formal livingroom, opens out to a smart, landscaped terrace with views to the green and lake beyond.
There are six bedrooms on the first floor, all of them en suite. The main bedroom, as you would expect from a house of this calibre, is more akin to a five-star hotel suite and opens out to a private balcony (as do two other bedrooms), giving wonderful verdant views of the golf course and landscaped grounds.
Ascending the bespoke oak staircase, you reach the second floor, where entertainment and leisure were factors in its overall design. Here you will find a reading area, a cinema room, games room and storage rooms.
Grounds are approached by a sweeping driveway via electric gates leading to meticulously laid-out gardens with mature planting. The bucolic feel of the place is further enhanced by its setting, framed by a bank of oak trees.
The list of specifications is impressive including bespoke hardwood joinery and high quality ironmongery throughout, along with high-quality sanitary ware in each of the eight bathrooms. A central vacuuming system, integrated security alarm and controlled lighting add to its high-spec as does a multi-zone audio system. There’s even a golf buggy charging system in a double garage that can be accessed internally.
The grounds of the estate are really something. Measuring 560 acres (226 hectares) in total, facilities include a 30,000sq ft (2,790sq m) clubhouse and purpose-built events pavilion that caters to conferences, golf groups and weddings. The golf course, set in this historical woodland in the heart of Ireland’s royal county, has been voted best parkland course in the Greater Dublin Area on numerous occasions, and the estate is being enhanced with the development of a luxury hotel within the castle itself.
In terms of access to the capital, the property is close to the M3 motorway and takes an hour to Dublin and 30 minutes to Dublin Airport, while local towns of Dunshaughlin, Trim, Navan and Dunboyne provide schools, shopping and dining. In addition to on-site golf, four other courses lie in the vicinity, while racecourses at Fairyhouse and Navan are also in easy reach.
In testament to its design and expensive fit-out and the fact that it has not dated since it was constructed in 2007, nothing has been overlooked here at the Lucas. Nothing, that is, except one of the finest parkland courses in the entire Dublin area.
