The luxury country hotel Tinakilly House in Rathnew, Co Wicklow, has been sold by the Power family to a property development company for close to €10 million. Ciarán Hancock, Business Affairs Correspondent, reports.
This marks the end of a 25-year association with the historic property for husband and wife team William and Bee Power and their son Raymond, who has run the hotel since 2000.
Tinakilly and nine acres of land have been acquired by Cova Properties, a Dublin-based developer, which already owns 200 acres around the four-star hotel.
Pat Shine, Cova's chief executive, said it would now proceed to develop the whole site with a mix of residential, commercial and leisure facilities.
"This means we can develop the entire site now," he said.
Mr Shine said Cova plans to spend up to €40 million modernising the hotel's facilities to include a swimming pool, spa and health centre.
The firm will also seek permission to increase the number of rooms from 53 to more than 100, he said. The redevelopment could take up to three years to complete.
"It is a little dated as a product," Mr Shine said. "We'd like to put in facilities associated with a modern hotel."
Mr Shine said the hotel would remain open during any refurbishment and it would continue to be run by general manager Conrad Robinson. The hotel's 55 staff were informed of the sale yesterday.
Cova was set up in 1998 by Mr Shine - a former partner with PricewaterhouseCoopers - former estate agent Bill Mulrooney and property developer Brendan Fitzsimons.
The company owns 750 acres of land in Wicklow, making it the county's biggest developer.
Situated 29 miles from Dublin, Tinakilly has long been a popular venue for meetings of government ministers and politicians and groups of civil servants. Its restaurant is also a popular venue among locals and it handles small conferences and weddings.
The hotel has a rich history. It was completed in 1833 after a 10-year building programme and was designed by well-known Irish architect James Franklin Fuller.
It was built for Capt Robert Halpin, who was born in Wicklow town, and paid for by the British government who wanted to recognise Halpin's contribution to improving global communications.
Capt Halpin went on to command The Great Eastern, which laid the world's first transoceanic telegraph cables linking Valentia Bay with Canada. A section of the cable is displayed in Tinakilly.
Its features include a cellar with space for 2,000 bottles of wine, extensive gardens, tennis courts and a croquet lawn. Halpin's daughter Belle lived in the house until her death in 1952.
It changed hands several times until the Powers bought the property as a family residence in 1982.
William Power, who is now 69 and is a former factory owner, turned it into a hotel to pay for renovations caused by dry rot.