Dominic West and his wife forced to sell family castle
The glorious Glin Castle in West Limerick has been in the same family for 700 years and played host to Sir Mick Jagger, Marianne Faithfull and Talitha Getty.
Now, The Wire actor Dominic West and his wife Catherine Fitzgerald are reluctantly selling her ancestral home for £4.6 million because of the cost of its upkeep.
The castle is the home of the Knights of Glin. West’s wife Catherine is the daughter of the 29th and last Knight of Glin, Desmond Fitzgerald, who died in 2011.
his title vanished with him as he had no male heir.
‘We would have loved to carry it on, but the practicalities of it are a fulltime job,’ says Catherine, who is a landscape gardener.
‘I work in gardens all over, my husband is away a lot in the U.S., and this isn’t something that can be managed remotely.
‘We would love someone who has a feeling for the house’s provenance and history to take it on, and love it as we have.’
Old etonian West and his wife, who have four children, wed at Glin in 2010. They bought a property near Chippenham last year and also own a home in London.
It was thought that the actor, who played Detective Jimmy McNulty in the cult U.S. television series and currently stars in The Affair, might come to the rescue of the aristocratic family, but even his American success was not lucrative enough to save Glin.
Catherine’s father turned the Castle into a hotel in 2002 to keep it a going concern, but closed it down in 2009 in the recession and sold off £1.9 million of family heirlooms.
In January, West appealed to the University of Limerick to help out. ‘It is a living piece of Irish history so maybe the University should get involved and make this place a link between art and architecture in Ireland as it’s absolutely steeped in culture and heritage,’ he said.
It seems his call went unheeded.
Catherine’s decision wouldn’t have gone down well with her father, who was a champion of the arts and heritage.
Shortly before his death, Desmond said: ‘Glin has been the ancestral property of my family for over 700 years.
‘It is my greatest hope that it will continue to remain in the family and be enjoyed and cherished long into the future.’