Dominic West is turning his Irish castle into a hotel.
The ‘Affair’ actor and his wife Catherine Fitzgerald were devastated when they were forced to put Glin Castle – which has been in Catherine’s family for 700 years – up for sale because of the cost of its upkeep.
But they have now taken the £4.6 million property off the market and plan to turn it into a boutique hotel.
The 46-year-old star said: "Selling up was absolutely heart-breaking for all of us, especially my mother-in-law and my wife and luckily, we’re reopening it as a hotel, all going well, some time next year."
The couple – who have three children, Dora, nine, Senan, seven, Francis, six, and Rose, two, together, as Dominic’s 17-year-old daughter Martha, from a previous relationship – married at Glin Castle in 2010.
But they were forced to put it on the market in April last year after Catherine’s father, the 29th and last Knight of Glin, Desmond Fitzgerald, died in 2011.
Before his death, Desmond attempted to turn the castle into a hotel in 2002, but failed and was forced to close it down seven years later due to the recession, when he also had to sell off £1.9 million of family heirlooms.
However, that has not put Dominic off and he is going to manage the hotel as much as he can.
He told the Daily Mail newspaper: "I’m going to manage it. I want to be in charge or as much as my schedule will allow. Obviously there will be someone in place far more experienced and qualified than I coping with the day-to-day. But we want to be there. We’re going to be heavily involved. That’s why we’re moving home to Ireland.
"We spend a large amount of time there already. It is for all intents and purposes home for us."
Dominic West to open up a hotel
