Mark Zuckerberg paid more than €50m for Strancally Castle in Co Waterford, register shows

Mark Zuckerberg, the billionaire chief executive behind social media giant Meta, and his wife, Priscilla Chan, paid more than €50 million for Strancally Castle in Co Waterford, according to the Property Price Register.The sale figure of €51,171,155, which was published on Wednesday, is close to double the estimated price tag put on the property at the time of sale by property market sources.It includes the amount paid for the principal residence and up to an acre of land. Therefore, the couple’s total spend would greatly exceed what appears on the register when the entirety of the 440-acre estate is considered.The date of sale was recorded as August 17th, 2026.READ MOREWhen the sale was first reported by The Irish Times, three days later, on August 20th, it was believed to have achieved in the region of €20m to €30m based on the quality of the residence, which has undergone a full restoration over the past 20 years.Mark Zuckerberg and Priscilla Chan Strancally Castle, Co Waterford Zuckerberg and his wife completed the purchase of the Gothic-revival style house and estate on the banks of the river Blackwater from owners Michael and Giancarla Alen-Buckley.“Mark and his family are excited to continue caring for this historic home and look forward to spending time in Ireland, where Meta maintains its international headquarters,” a spokesman for Zuckerberg said Built originally around 1830 for John Keily, a former Tory MP, Strancally Castle was, according to its description in Brian De Breffny and Rosemary Ffolliott’s book The Houses of Ireland, “designed by the Pain brothers on a lavish scale; it took a brisk walk of 4½ minutes to reach the diningroom from the kitchen”.Architects James and George Richard Pain designed the main house and a nearby folly tower house and an inlet quay on the banks of the river Blackwater.Alen-Buckley, a cofounder of London-headquartered private investment firm RAB Capital, and his wife, who is a daughter of the late Charles Forte and sister of Rocco Forte of the Rocco Forte Hotels group, acquired Strancally Castle 25 years ago.The three-storey building extends to 16,000sq ft. In a statement issued to The Irish Times, the Alen-Buckleys said: “We leave our home of 25 years fondly and are grateful for the opportunity we have been given to save and restore Strancally Castle ... We are delighted that Mark and his family intend to build on our stewardship by continuing to invest in maintaining and enhancing the property and grounds as their home in a sustainable manner ... We wish them and their family much happiness in this unique and blessed place.”It is understood Zuckerberg and his wife will continue to live in the United States and intend to use Strancally Castle when in Ireland, where Meta, owner of social media platforms Facebook and Instagram, has had its European headquarters since 2009. The company employs about 1,500 people in Ireland.Zuckerberg’s interest in acquiring a home here emerged last summer when Liberty Media billionaire owner John Malone told the Wall Street Journal that the Meta chief had offered to buy his Castlemartin House and Estate in Kildare from him.