Zuckerberg buys Irish castle near Meta HQ​

The Facebook founder bought Strancally Castle, built in 1830 and extensively renovated in 2003, according to a state heritage service, Global News reported.

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The transaction is not listed on the Irish state ​property price register.

The Irish Times, which first reported the purchase, estimated the ‌property ⁠might be worth between 20 million euros and 30 million euros. Reuters and The Guardian also reported that Zuckerberg had taken ownership of the property.

The reported cost of the castle was 10 per cent of the price of Zuckerberg’s more than 350-foot yacht, which he purchased for $300 million, according to Yachtworld, and which recently made headlines after it reportedly refused to respond to a distress call from a nearby boat.

A spokesman for Zuckerberg told Reuters he and his family were “excited to ​continue ​caring for ⁠this historic home and look forward to spending ​time in Ireland.”

Meta employs around ​1,500 people in Ireland, which serves as a European home to a number of U.S. tech giants, including Google, Microsoft, Amazon and Apple, due in part to the country’s favourable tax regime.

Zuckerberg is among a small group of billionaires who own a castle in Ireland, a country home to an estimated 30,000 castles, according to a Castle Collector marketplace for prospective buyers.

American businessman John Malone owns Castlemartin House and Estate in County Kildare, an 18th-century Georgian mansion and farm, which Zuckerberg reportedly attempted to purchase from Malone in 2025.

Sir James Dyson, the founder of Dyson, owns Ballynatray House on the River Blackwater, close to Zuckerberg’s new castle, and recently received permission to build a helipad on the property, according to the Irish Times.

It’s not just ultra-wealthy tech moguls who are snapping up the historical landmarks; actors and filmmakers have also purchased and preserved some of the country’s forgotten fortresses.

Oscar-winning actor Jeremy Irons owns Kilcoe Castle, a 15th-century fortress that stood in ruin for four centuries on a small island in County Cork. Irons bought the castle in the late ’90s and restored it to its former glory.

American author, producer and filmmaker Christy Cashman owns Kilkea Castle, a medieval stronghold of the FitzGeralds, Earls of Kildare, with her husband, which they converted into a luxury hotel and golf course.

The Crown actor Dominic West and his wife Catherine FitzGerald rescued and restored Glin Castle in Limerick. The 800-year-old fortress has been in the FitzGerald family for 800 years.

The couple stepped in to prevent it from being sold and renovated its gardens and interiors for guests and event hires.

Castles are a relic of Irish history and date back to medieval times, when Anglo-Norman invaders built fortifications to defend their land and properties, often designed to inspire fear and intimidate prospective intruders, according to Heritage Ireland.

Thousands of castles in Ireland are legally protected as architectural monuments under the National Monuments Act, but the law does not prohibit private ownership, though it does restrict what the owner can do to the property.