if (! } el.querySelector('a[data-price_id]').href = el.querySelector('a[data-price_id]').href + '#annual'; virtualPageViewData.eventData.article = { if (leafletTag) { Asked at the time now 25 years ago why be bought it, he simply replied: Because its a castle and I love it. It is a love that has not faded. if (isShopFront) { And as an added bonus \u0026amp;ldquo;you can go fishing from your doorstep\u0026amp;rdquo;.While he lives in a cottage overlooking the River Shannon, he hopes to spend some time living in his dream castle once it is fully furnished.Once Cloontykilla is complete, he will set his sights on protecting McDermott\u0026amp;rsquo;s Castle from further damage from the elemen","isAccessibleForFree":"False","hasPart":{"@type":"WebPageElement","isAccessibleForFree":"False","cssSelector":"#flip-pay"},"isPartOf":{"@type":["CreativeWork","Product"],"name":"Independent.ie","productID":"independent.ie:showcase"}} {"@context":"https://schema.org/","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Independent.ie","item":"https://m.independent.ie/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Irish News","item":"https://m.independent.ie/irish-news/"}]} } if (listeningForGigyaEvents === true) { showPremiumBadge(node); window.shopFrontHeaderSubscribe = false; if (activeTabId === 'shop-front-monthly-prices-tab-trigger') { With trees going through it, It was a beginning of a long journey to see it restored. window.dataLayer.push({ window.showNonSubscriberElements = true; list: getListName(), eventData: { His loan was subsequently sold on to a vulture fund and thus the battle to save the dream continued until he met another Irish advocate, Brian Reilly, who managed to persuade an American investor friend, Kenneth D. Peterson, who already has business interests in Ireland, to come on-board and keep the project alive. : [selectedPrice] successful_upgrade_redirect_url = 'https://subscribe.independent.ie/welcome/premium/'; items_used: accessObject.metered_paywall_items_used, successful_upgrade_redirect_url: successful_upgrade_redirect_url, template_summary_card: "

", }); const tweetId = parseTweetIdFromUrl(tweetUrl); return { const badges = getBadgesForEl(el); // Since the user is not a subscriber, the wall is now visible. if (subscribeButton) { if (!selectedPrice) { }, return; } } else { successful_upgrade_redirect_url = decodeURIComponent(returnURL); } else if (isUpgrades === true && member_redirect) { document.getElementById('flip-pay').classList.remove('fp-prevent-html-replace'); } const cookieData = updateSubscriberCookie(event.detail.object); selectedPrice = getBundleById(priceIdFromUrl); const selectedPriceRadioInput = node.querySelector('.subtitle2 input[type="radio"]'); } window.dataLayer[0].user.meteredPaywall = meteredPaywall; break; }, Welcome! }; if (isShopFront) { window.dataLayer.push(ecommerceTransactionEvent); 'false' : 'true'; }, subscriptionFinishDate: cookieData.subscriptionFinishDate, const setDataLayerMeterStats = function (accessObject) { delivery_days: price.delivery_days || [], } else if (Object.keys(p.badge || {}).indexOf('print_annual') > -1) { flipPayConfig = Object.assign(flipPayConfig, { const products = selectedPrice.placeholder_prices.length > 0 Sean says that he wont give up on the childhood dream until he is personally welcoming guests into his stately castle, and even then, he says (with a wink in his eye) that there is still another dream yet to be completed on his beloved Castle Island. Were Irelands Viking invaders high on hallucinogenic herbal tea? setSubscribeButtonColour(node); setTimeout(function() { bundle_info = upgrade_bundles.filter(function (bundle) { } const latestFlipPayLoadTime = parseInt(localStorage.getItem('subscriptionwall.latest-load') || '0'); localStorage.removeItem('price.selected'); if (purchase.badge['print_monthly'] && purchase.badge['print_monthly'] == true) { selectedPrice = getBundleById(priceIdFromUrl); wallType: window.dataLayer[0].article.wallType, showOrderSummary(node, previouslySelectedPriceId); The actor Sean Simon at Cloontykilla Castle Alison Gill Sunday June 20 2021, 12.01am, The Sunday Times Television viewers hate a cliffhanger, and when presenter Kevin McCloud walked away. Posts Tagged. const now = new Date(); } virtualPageViewData.eventData.user.wallType = 'paywall'; localStorage.removeItem('price.selected'); userID: '', const subscriberCookieName = 'subscriber'; } const urlQueryString = window.location.search; if (eventType === 'access_resolved' || eventType === 'access_resolved ') { This particular show, featuring Cloontykilla Castle, had the highest-grossing viewership in the history of the program. for (i = scripts.length-1; i >= 0; i--) { 'home-delivery': 'fp_refresh_price_only', vars.article.wallVisible = 'false'; fontSize: '16px', Grand Designs Cloontykilla Castle Ireland. } subscriptionStartDate: purchase.granted_by_app_purchase.original_start_at, !gigyaID ? window.IMP.config = flipPayConfig; const listenForTabClick = function (tabPrefix) { return; } let meteredPaywall = 'undefined'; node.removeAttribute('hidden'); if (!productImpressionRecorded[flipPayConfig.filter_prices_by_badge] && !previouslySelectedPriceId) { color: 'var(--c_d3t)', eventCategory: 'g_showcase', if (userHasLoggedIn === true) { window.dataLayer.push({ const grantedBy = Object.keys(purchase).filter(function (key) { as well as appearing alongside Gabriel Byrne in Into the Westand other films, he had the means to buy both properties from Coillte. } Sign up to IrishCentral's newsletter to stay up-to-date with everything Irish! const subscribeButton = node.querySelector('[data-price_id="'+priceId+'"]'); Guests will be able to live like royalty in six luxury suites. } setBundleToFullWidth(node); var nowTimeStamp = Date.now(); if (timeLeftOnExpire < 0) { fpblock.classList.add('fp-prevent-html-replace'); if (eventType === 'purchased') { subscribeLink.addEventListener('click', function (e) { Simon knocked on doors of well-known artists agents and managed to end up opening shows for established stars such as Sir Harry Secombe, Mike Yarwood, Ken Dodd, and many of the legendary entertainers from the 60s and 70s era. subscriptionStatus: purchase.granted_by_app_purchase.sku_code, } eventAction: priceholder.dataset.sku_code + '|' + priceholder.dataset.price_to_display_billed + '|' + contract, eventLabel: 'load' '&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src= It was in these pristine, ancient woods adjoining the Lough Key Forest Park where at seven years oldhewas first mesmerised by the sight of the former hunting lodge built around 1839to resemble a medieval castle. const ecommerceTransactionEvent = { const virtualPageViewData = { * Originally published in Nov 2019. id: price.sku_code, meteredAccess: purchase.metered_paywall, let productClickSource = localStorage.getItem('product_click_source'); } Cloontykilla Castle Update September 24, 2016; Contact PCA Engineers. document.body.dispatchEvent(new CustomEvent(eventName)); if (tweetUrl) { template_prices_price_description: '
  • >>description<<
  • ', }); document.getElementById('welcome_popup_wrapper').style.display = "block"; }); shopfront_url: 'https://subscribe.independent.ie/', //Update the css class for the sundayworld HD Bundle. const subscriberCookie = JSON.parse(getCookie(subscriberCookieName) || '{}'); } else if (accessObject.access === false) { } } } //set expiry time for selectedPriceID. sean simons cloontykilla castle nowmarc d'amelio house address. previouslySelectedPriceId) { subscriptionStartDate: cookieData.subscriptionStartDate, let homeDeliveryButtonCheck = false; .reduce(function (allPrices, item) { return text.trim(); Convert time from hours to milliseconds (360000 represents number of ms in an hour). Episode Viewers and Ratings. homeDeliveryButtonCheck = true; It was builton what was once the sprawling 3,000 acre Rockingham demesne and estate that was bought by the famous British architect John Nash, who designed Buckingham Palace. Over the following years, with grants from the local council it was made safe again. Investors will own part of the castle and he has set his sights on the Irish diaspora \u0026amp;ldquo;who went to America during the Famine and now they\u0026amp;rsquo;re billionaires\u0026amp;rdquo;.The only caveat is that they share the same passion for restoring Ireland\u0026amp;rsquo;s castles to their former glory and not destroying them by modernising them or turning them into Disneyland-like creations.\u0026amp;ldquo;Your money is in bricks and mortar,\u0026amp;rdquo; he said, adding: \u0026amp;ldquo;You don\u0026amp;rsquo;t have to be stone mad but it helps.\u0026amp;rdquo;\u00a0He has already spent\u00a0around \u20ac3m\u00a0restoring Cloontykilla Castle which had trees growing in it when he bought it in 1997. if (prices.hasOwnProperty(key)) { span_tag.style.backgroundColor = ""; code: "", Sean set about protecting his castles from further ruin and damage caused by the harsh environment and weather, often undertaking dangerous tasks such as cutting ivy which was as thick as a human wrist from the top of a precariously perched ladder, three stories up the side of the old castle walls. meteredAccess: purchase.metered_paywall, } template_summary_other_paymet_options_apple_pay: "

    ", const fireCheckoutEvent = function () { } Cloontykilla Castle fell in to a ruin state and by the time it was acquired in 1997 by Sean Simon it was in peril of collapse. name: purchase.description, } else { Sean Simon blagged his way into joining the Miami Showband at the age of 14 after having lied to the bands manager and agent telling them that he was 16. const eventType = event.detail.event_type; window.dataLayer.push({ return; const domain = '.independent.ie'; !subscriberCookie.subscriptionStatus ? if (event.detail.object.google_showcase_requested === true) { window.showSubscriberElements) { return allPrices.concat(item); } vars.article.userWall = 'none'; if (returnURL) { let bodyAvailable = false; } } else if (purchase.badge['epaper-access'] && purchase.badge['epaper-access'] == true) { } flipPayConfig.show_spinner = false; The woods are also home to herds of wild deer, endangered pine martins and red squirrels. vars.user.subscriptionStartDate = subscriberCookie.subscriptionStartDate || ''; } }; subscriptionStatus: 'Corporate', eventCallback: function () { . if (flipPayJsUrl) { 6 posts. successful_upgrade_redirect_url = 'https://member.independent.ie/'; previouslySelectedPriceId = null; const subscriberCookieStatus = getCookie(subscriberCookieName) || '{}'; } }); event: '_trackEvent', document.getElementById("crosswords").src = document.getElementById("crosswords").dataset.src; }; You are now a premium subscriber', event: '_trackEvent', if (userHasLoggedIn === true) { if (isRegionalShopFront) { eventLabel: 'save' } vars.user.subscriptionStatus = subscriberCookie.subscriptionStatus || ''; Hefell in love and vowed to become rich one day and buy itand the crumbling 14th century McDermotts Castle nearby that sits majestically on Castle Island also known as The Rock its own tiny island in the middle of Lough Key. } selectedPrice._id) { } subscribeButton.classList.remove('-ghost'); return price.placeholder_prices; Cloontykilla Castle known locally as Rockingham Castle was bought by local actor Sen Simon in 1997 who has spent 12 million. addToCartFiredAfterRegistration = true; November 12, 2014 at 11:20 pm Reply Patrick Ryan says: subscriptionFinishDate: '', const socialNetwork = socialEmbed.dataset.socialNetwork; new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0], : getPricesByBadge(); if (Object.keys(window.dataLayer[0]).indexOf('article') > -1) { const pathParts = new URL(url).pathname.split('/'); }); let productImpressionRecorded = {}; label: 'login', if (! card_number_style: stripeInputStyle, } show_fadeout: false, } const cookieDomain = '.independent.ie'; card_expiry_style: stripeInputStyle, }).map(function (key) { if (eventType === 'summary_displayed') { A long time later he purchased it with transforming it into a dynamite dramatic false sixteenth century home complete with excellent baronial lobby extravagance rooms clearing staircases. Writing on the website, Sean Simon says "although I own them (Mc Dermotts Castle and Cloontykilla Castle) I see myself as their caretaker". The WPBSA has today confirmed the provisional dates and venues for the 2021/22 WPBSA Q Tour. }; subscriptionStartDate: '', if (element.tagName === 'BODY' && ! const bundleValue = getBundleValue(purchase, 'purchase'); }; } }, 1000); return 1; } let previouslySelectedPriceId = getPriceSelected(localStorage.getItem('price.selected')) || getQueryStringValue('priceId'); Simon was caught out when the local Catholic Monsignor wrote to the agent telling him that Sean was just 14 and that he would stop the Miami Showband from ever playing any of the halls that belonged to the church, which in those days was almost every parish hall. if (snackbar) { }); const hash = getUrlHash(); } const badgeToFilterBy = badgeMap[tab.id]; event: '_trackEvent', if (eventType === 'purchase_failed') { } const activeTabId = tabs.querySelector('li.is-active a').id;