Restored castle on Channel 4 show

A RESTORED castle on the shores of Lough Key in Co Roscommon is to feature on Channel 4’s popular Grand Designs programme this week.

Cloontykilla Castle, known locally as Rockingham Castle, was bought by local actor Seán Simon in 1997, who has spent €1.2 million on it in recent years despite the recession.

He started the restoration work in 2008 at the end of the boom, but carried on despite the problems he faced in accessing finance.

His travails are documented on Channel 4 tomorrow night.

Simon hopes to open the castle next summer. He has already had a high-profile visitor in Prince Michael of Greece, a first cousin of Prince Philip.

Prince Michael is a regular visitor to Ireland. “He is fascinated with Irish castles,” said Simon. “He’s actually considered a world authority on ghosts . . . He was told there is a verified ghost in Cloontykilla.”

Prince Michael is reportedly looking at the castle as a potential venue for a royal wedding due to take place next year.

Simon, an actor and singer, has played the lead in a number of West End shows including Little Shop of Horrors. He also featured in the film Into the West.

He is hoping to rent out the castle as an upmarket marriage venue and has installed a state-of- the-art music studio in the basement for artists to use.

The castle was originally built in 1839 and was designed by architect John Nash, who designed Buckingham Palace, and built by Lord Stafford King Harman. The Stafford King Harmans left Ireland in 1957 after a fire destroyed the living quarters in Rockingham Castle.

Bringing the building back to life has been “a tough job because restoration is twice as hard as a new build”, Simon said.

Eight en-suite bedrooms have been fitted out along with a roof garden, as the roof is completely flat. The building is now 75 per cent finished. Simon is attempting to incorporate a Tudor design and Grand Designs will come back next year to see it completed. “They’ll have a whole new show out of it,” he said.

Grand Designs will be shown tomorrow at 9pm on Channel 4.