It is not only one of the finest mansions in Ireland, but it shared an architect with the president.

Lovingly restored by one careful tech tycoon previous owner, at a cost of many millions, a stunning Georgian villa in Meath had been on the market for two years. Called Corbalton Hall, the period house with perhaps the largest front lawn in Ireland was designed by the late Francis Johnston, the architect responsible for Áras an Uachtaráin, who died in 1829. 

The mansion was bought for £3.4 million in 1999 by Pat McDonagh, a former national school teacher who made his fortune in tech from companies like CBT Systems, Skillsoft and Riverdeep. McDonagh subsequently added to the property, snapping up adjoining farmland and bringing it to 358 acres. He has invested millions in upgrading the property to include a cinema, gym, library, wine cellar and so on, as well as period pieces such as formal gardens.  

Corbalton Hall renovations include a private cinema.

Now Eamon Waters, who made his fortune from waste, has submitted an €8 million bid for the property, and most of its adjoining lands. While the deal has yet to formally close, Waters is understood to be the highest bidder for the property.

He is not thought to be interested in McDonagh’s entire lands, which were being sold in three lots by Coonan Property and Goffs Property. A spokesperson for Goffs declined to comment when contacted. Waters did not respond to messages. McDonagh, who rarely speaks to the media, could not be contacted. 

It is not known why McDonagh put the property on the market, but its sheer scale would require significant time to even walk around, yet alone maintain. In June, Ronald Quinlan of The Irish Times reported that three bidders had expressed an interest in the property, demonstrating there is still money to be spent on acquiring unique mansions even in the middle of a Covid-19 pandemic. 

Waters, however, has emerged in front. He is one of Ireland’s richest men from his success building up his Panda waste business, which was first established a short drive away from Corbalton Hall. Beauparc Utilities Holdings, the country’s largest waste company which owns both Panda and Greenstar, paid dividends of €124 million to Sretaw, a company controlled by Waters, in two separate tranches at the start of the year. 

The payments were reported to relate to the sale in 2019 by Waters of a 37.6 per cent stake in Beauparc to American private equity giant Blackstone. Using Blackstone’s firepower, the business has expanded into Britain and Holland. It also owns energy company Panda Power.

Waters has a substantial private property portfolio and is thought to be worth north of €200 million. He is expected to soon own a dazzling new mansion and estate that will be up there with any owned in Ireland, even by its very richest tycoons.