€20 million paid for Carrick on Suir's 'Downton'

A stately home that has been called the 'Downton Abbey' of Carrick on Suir has been sold for €20 million.

Castletown Cox, near Piltown, about seven kilometers outside Carrick on Suir, is described as one of Ireland’s finest country estates and Palladian mansions.

The 513 acre estate on the Tipperary-Waterford border was placed on the market eight months ago seeking €17.5million.

Castletown Cox was purchased by the UK-based Magan family in 1999. In recent years the sale was delayed by a family disagreement.

The house was built in 1767  for the Protestant Archbishop of Cashel, Michael Cox. Cox commissioned Sardinian architect Davis Ducart, to build the house to a Palladian plan, modelled, it is believed on William Wynde’s Buckingham House in London (later Buckingham Palace).

The Rococo plasterwork is by famed stuccodore Patrick Osborne of Waterford and ecclesiastical art hangs on every floor.

It boasts 10 bedrooms, all en suite. The adjoining wings include a billiards room, ballroom, a model room (where a model of the property stands), a gym, a vestuary and a range of staff accommodation.