The Irish Times

Castletown House in Celbridge has reopened to the public after a five-year works programme that was not so much a restoration project as a rescue mission. For all the damp, the crumbling balustrades on the roof, the rotting roof itself, Castletown has been lucky. In 1965, the Conolly family, who had lived there since the early 1700s, sold it and the surrounding estate. It was bought by a developer and there were fears it would be pulled down, or, at best, be converted into apartments.

Instead, in 1967 the house and 120 of the original 600 acres were bought by Mr Desmond Guinness, of Irish Georgian Society fame. At that time, according to Mr Guinness, Castletown was completely empty, the doors not even locked - light fittings were smashed and lead stolen from the roof.