Glendalough Court Case Dropped

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Glendalough Court Case Dropped

Sunday, March 18 2007

Mercury Engineering founder Frank O’Kane has withdrawn his High Court legal action against the owner of the 1,500acre Glendalough Estate in Annamoe, Co Wicklow.

O’Kane took the action to enforce an agreement he claimed he had to purchase the historic estate. The case was due to be heard on March 6, but both sides agreed to pay their own legal fees and the case has been dropped. A spokesman for the estate said the owners were looking forward to continuing to run the property as a commercial venture and carrying out a further refurbishment of the main house.

Glendalough House was the former home of Robert Barton, who was the last to sign the 1921 Anglo-Irish Treaty, and Erskine R Childers, who was arrested at the house and executed in November 1922 for owning a gun given to him by Michael Collins as a keepsake. In recent years, Glendalough House has been restored to its former Georgian glory and has played host to many Hollywood celebrities and A-list stars.

The estate is regularly used as a film location, attracting Matthew McConaughey and Christian Bale during the making of Reign of Fire in 2001. Saving Private Ryan and Braveheart were also shot in the nearby area.

It was not clear whether O’Kane wanted to develop it into a country hotel and golf course or whether he planned to live in the eight-bedroom house.

The estate is estimated to be worth about €30 million.

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