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  "path": "/news/world/ireland-news-village-sale-ryanair-chief",
  "publishedAt": "2026-04-09T21:51:53.000Z",
  "site": "https://www.gbnews.com",
  "tags": [
    "Dangerous criminals face tougher sentences as victims given more time to seek 'justice they deserve'",
    "Local villagers fume at police for 'aiding and abetting after arresting residents who tried to stop traveller caravans moving in'",
    "Keir Starmer holds call with Donald Trump just hours after saying he was 'fed up' with US President",
    "The GB News Editorial Charter"
  ],
  "textContent": "\n\n\nA complete Irish village has been placed on the market for £17.5million, offering a rare chance to acquire an entire historic settlement in County Kildare.\n\nLyons, situated along a tranquil canal down a secluded tree-lined avenue west of Dublin, encompasses 47 bedrooms distributed across 20 acres of property.\n\n###\n\n\n\n\nThe sale includes stone cottages, a traditional pub, a schoolhouse, and an impressive four-storey watermill, alongside a lake, stables, and extensive gardens.\n\nThe village formed part of the Lyons Estate, whose mansion dates to 1797. The estate house remains in the hands of the Ryan family and is excluded from this transaction.\n\n###\n\n\n\n\nTRENDING\n\nStories\n\nVideos\n\nYour Say\n\n###\n\n\n\n\nOriginally functioning as a mining settlement on the banks of the Grand Canal, Lyons has earned recognition from Country Life magazine as Ireland's \"most significant estate\".\n\nDuring its heyday, the village supported a thriving community with a police barracks, boat repair facility, stables, and a Church of Ireland boarding school. Census records from its peak show 79 houses accommodating 102 families.\n\nThe water-powered flour mill was operated by Joseph P Shackleton, a relation of the renowned Antarctic explorer Ernest Shackleton. Following its conversion to a roller mill in 1887, the building was destroyed by an accidental fire.\n\nThis blaze marked the beginning of Lyons' decline, as shops gradually closed and structures deteriorated.\n\n###\n\n\n\n\n###\n\n\n\n\n###\n\n\n\n\nRyanair co-founder Tony Ryan acquired and restored both the mansion and village during the 1990s.\n\nHis passion for Irish author Charles Kickham, whose novel Knocknagow portrayed an abandoned village resembling Lyons, drove the restoration project with careful attention to preserving Georgian character.\n\n\"The buildings are so beautiful they look like they have been there for hundreds of years despite being built in the Nineties,\" says Nicola Vance of Lisney Sotheby's International Realty.\n\n\"They were built with longevity in mind.\"\n\nFollowing Ryan's death in 2007, businessman Barry O'Callaghan purchased the wider estate in 2016.\n\n### LATEST DEVELOPMENTS:\n\n\n\n\n  * Dangerous criminals face tougher sentences as victims given more time to seek 'justice they deserve'\n  * Local villagers fume at police for 'aiding and abetting after arresting residents who tried to stop traveller caravans moving in'\n  * Keir Starmer holds call with Donald Trump just hours after saying he was 'fed up' with US President\n\n\n\n###\n\n\n\n\n###\n\n\n\n\n###\n\n\n\n\nIt now operates as the five-star Cliff at Lyons hotel, with cottages serving as guest accommodation and the former mill transformed into a two-storey restaurant featuring a bar called the Lyons Den.\n\nEstate agents anticipate the purchaser will come from the ultra-high-net-worth bracket.\n\nDavid Byrne of Lisney Sotheby's International Realty says: \"The buyer is likely to be an ultra-high-net-worth individual who sees this as a truly unique Irish estate.\n\n\"A hospitality destination or long-term heritage investment where there is further potential to develop the property [which includes the Cliff at Lyons Hotel] to its fullest potential.\"\n\n###\n\n\n\n\n###\n\n\n\n\nThe location offers considerable appeal, sitting just nine minutes from Celbridge and half an hour from Dublin.\n\nNearby amenities include the K Club golf course, popular with American visitors, and Weston Airport for private charter access.\n\nCounty Kildare's equestrian heritage adds further prestige, with Kildangan Stud owned by Dubai's ruler located 40 minutes away.\n\n###\n\n\n\n\n**\n**\n\n**\n**\n\n**Our Standards: The GB News Editorial Charter**",
  "title": "Leafy village goes up for sale for £17million just three decades after being bought by Ryanair chief"
}