Address: Ardsallagh House, Navan, Co MeathPrice: €3,500,000 Agent: Sherry FitzGerald Country Homes and Sherry FitzGerale Reilly View this property on MyHome.ie A stately home once owned by the forebears of English philosopher Bertrand Russell near Navan, Co Meath, is on the market after being in the same family for close to 100 years. Ardsallagh House, a 1,110sq m (11,948sq ft) Tudor revival house, was built in 1844 by the 7th Duke of Bedford for his son, Lord John Russell, twice prime minister of England. and the grandfather of Bertrand, the prominent philosopher*.Owners after that included nationalist MP James McCann – who briefly published a newspaper, The Irish Peasant, in Navan – but Ardsallagh was bought in the 1930s by local builder Cormac Murray and his wife Catherine, who raised five children there. Cormac died in 1975 and Catherine in 1983. Their eldest daughter, Bernadette, continued to live in the house until 2022, and died aged 90 in 2024. The house, with its Tudor-style steeply pitched gables and tall chimneys on almost 200 acres by the banks of the river Boyne, is now for sale through Sherry FitzGerald Country Homes and Sherry FitzGerald Reilly, seeking €3.5 million. The property needs complete refurbishment and “will take millions” to restore, according to its executor, a woman who is the eldest of Cormac and Catherine’s 14 grandchildren, who all inherit the property. Ardsallagh House is close to Bellinter House, a Georgian country house redeveloped as a hotel and spa on 12 acres in the past 20 years. Ardsallagh has similar potential, or it could be refurbished as a family house. Its main entrance is at Bective Bridge, past a gate-lodge needing restoration.Murray’s granddaughter and the other grandchildren have extremely happy memories of Ardsallagh and of their grandparents and aunt Bernadette: born in 1934, Bernadette was one of Ireland’s first female chartered accountants, and host to many family get-togethers. “We adored the place,” says her grandniece. “We spent lots of Sunday lunches there, there was a tennis court, a swimming pool, and speedboats up and down the Boyne.” In the early days, she says, the house was pristine, well maintained by her grandfather. “It was a magical place at Christmas”. Bernadette was a member of the Navan Historical Society, travelled a lot, and was a treasurer of Motorsports Ireland’s Trial Drivers Club. “Many of us learnt to drive on the estate.”The building still exudes elegance: the double-height entrance hall has a vaulted ceiling and a Downton-style sweeping staircase leading up to a galleried landing. Intricate plasterwork here and in other reception rooms in the protected structure needs to be restored. A drawingroom and diningroom both have marble fireplaces and bay windows overlooking the grounds and the river Boyne. There’s also a sittingroom, study, kitchen and scullery at this level. At basement level, rooms include a nursery, large billiards room and the original kitchen. There are six bedrooms upstairs; the main bedroom has an en suite.Ardsallagh House, Navan, Co Meath. Catherine and Cormac Murray outside their home, Ardsallagh House. The swimming pool at Ardsallagh House in June 1963. Outside, there’s a lot of potential in Ardsallagh’s 199-acre grounds, a “versatile farm and estate... suited to a variety of agricultural, equestrian or lifestyle uses”, says the agent’s brochure. There are beech, chestnut and monkey puzzle trees in woodland, once-terraced lawns, a walled garden needing restoration, and a St Brigid’s well within the grounds. In his 1849 book, The Beauties of the Boyne and its Tributary the Blackwater, Sir William Wilde (father of Oscar) said “the holy well of St Bridget still exists here in the immediate vicinity of the house, and but a few paces from the river. Although a modern cut stone pointed arch has by some tasteless architect been thrown over it, still the thorns and elders overhang its pure waters.” Wilde was quite taken with Ardsallagh, saying “Crossing the left bank of the Boyne at Bellinter Bridge, we enter the noble demesne of Ardsallagh. In no part of its course does the river present the same extreme calmness and repose as here.” The lands originally belonged to a family called Nangle, who’d lived there from Norman times until the 17th century, losing their estates after Cromwell’s plantationsThe estate comes with fishing rights on the Boyne, which runs within a few yards of the house. Ardsallagh is roughly three miles from Navan.A traditional courtyard, secondary yard and outbuildings are a key asset of the property from a commercial perspective, says Sherry FitzGerald Country Homes agent Philip Guckian. Subject to planning permission, there’s potential “f or conversion to guest accommodation, a boutique hotel … event space, or other tourism-related uses”. New owners might use the land for agricultural purposes. The lands originally belonged to a family called Nangle, who’d lived there from Norman times until the 17th century, losing their estates after Cromwell’s plantations. The estate became the Ludlow estate, and the last Earl Ludlow left it to the Duke of Bedford. There is a distant connection between Ardsallagh and the UK branch of the Bedford family, whose family seat is historic Woburn Abbey. Woburn has records relating to Ardsallagh in its archives, the Murrays’ granddaughter says. The current 15th Duke of Bedford, who lives at Woburn in Bedfordshire, is one of England’s wealthiest landowners.*This article was updated on May 19th. An earlier version incorrectly stated that Ardsallagh House was once owned by the philosopher, Bertrand Russell. Entrance to Ardsallagh House. The double-height entrance hall has a vaulted ceiling and a Downton-style sweeping staircase leading up to a galleried landing. A drawingroom and diningroom both have marble fireplaces and bay windows overlooking the grounds and the river Boyne. There is a distant connection between Ardsallagh and the UK branch of the Bedford family, whose family seat is historic Woburn Abbey, Bedfordshire, England. Intricate plasterwork in Ardsallagh, a protected structure, needs to be restored. The estate comes with fishing rights on the Boyne, which runs within a few yards of the house