A billionaire’s bolt-hole: What do we know about Kelcy Warren’s Kilkenny estate?

It is arguably the most expensive, beautiful and elegant residence in Ireland yet outside of certain areas of South Kilkenny, the general public often have never heard of it.

That’s now changing after it was revealed that American billionaire Kelcy Warren had purchased Castletown Cox Estate for what was reportedly in the region of €20 million.

READ NEXT: 'Monster' musician who busked in Kilkenny jailed for raping ex-wife and her sister

The sale, which occurred around 2019, marked the biggest residential estate sale in Ireland since the 2014 sale of Castlemartin, the property of well-known businessman Anthony O’Reilly on 750 acres in Kildare, was sold to US businessman John Malone.

Speculation began to mount about what plans the Texan billionaire had for the estate, but interest quickly petered out with no signs of any significant movement.

Now, however, the billionaire’s plans (at least some of them) have come to light, and the result could have far-reaching regional implications.

Earlier this month, Mr Warren was revealed as the mystery investor behind the €30 million plan to extend Waterford Airport’s runway.

This extension could certainly prove to be handy for a billionaire with a bolt-hole in South Kilkenny.

READ NEXT: Fresh retail blow as another business in Kilkenny is 'closing down'

Warren’s plan for a ‘barley to bottle’ whiskey distillery on the site (primarily through the reconfiguration of existing outbuildings) has also generated significant intrigue, even at international level, with Forbes picking up the story.

The planning application, lodged with Kilkenny County Council in August of last year, described the proposed development as “a personal private project” and “not a commercial enterprise.”

“Castletown Cox will then become the only distillery in Ireland where every step of the process from barley to bottle will be carried out on the same site,” the application states, adding that “it is not intended to sell the whiskey commercially.”

This assertion generates further intrigue, and further speculation. If the payoff isn’t profit, then what is it? Perhaps it’s heritage, provenance, prestige - maybe it’s just having ownership of a private product that exists because it can?

For somebody this wealthy, these possibilities cannot be ruled out.

READ NEXT: 'I’ve had quite a few close calls' - Kilkenny driver fury on worsening situation

Will big clients be flown over to Waterford and hosted at Castletown Cox to sample the fare? That very much remains to be seen.

Castletown Cox is certainly a place that is built to impress any discerning guest.

Completed in the 1770s and said to be based on Villa La Rotunda, a Renaissance villa in northern Italy, the sheer scale of its complex symmetry sometimes draws comparisons to some of the world’s most beautiful symmetrical builds, such as the Taj Mahal in India.

It has had a storied legacy of owners since its construction, beginning with Archbishop Michael Cox of Cashel, all the way through to George Magan, Conservative member of the House of Lords and son of the late Brigadier Bill Magan, who served as a director at MI5.

With Kelcy Warren now at the helm, it will be interesting to see what the oil tycoon has in the pipeline as he adds another chapter to the estate’s storied history and legacy.

CLICK HERE FOR MORE LOCAL NEWS