DiCamillo Companion
Ireland

Luggala Lodge (Luggala Castle) (Luggala House) (Luggela House)

Tinnehinch, near Newtownmountkennedy

Co. Wicklow

Ireland

Circa Date: 1787 w/19th & 20th century alterations

Pronunciation: LUG-A-LAW

Status: Fully Extant

House Open to Public: No

Country House: Yes

This house has been used for TV and Film

The house from a circa 1900 postcard

Strawberry Hill House, London. Luggala was supposedly modeled on this famous house.

  • Built / Designed For: Peter LaTouche

    House & Family History: Originally built as hunting lodge, Lugalla was supposedly modeled on Horace Walpole's Strawberry Hill House in London (see "Images" section). The house, famously called "the most decorative honey pot in Ireland" in the 20th century, hosted legions of the great, the good, and the famous, including Michael Jackson, Brian Jones, Lucian Freud, Mick Jagger, J. Paul Getty, Anjelica Huston, the Beatles, and Bono (of U2). In 2017 the Luggala Estate was listed for sale for €28 million; it did not sell. In 2019 the estate sold for approximately €20 million.

    Collections: Selected items from the collection were auctioned at Luggala House on May 2, 2006.

  • Garden & Outbuildings: The house sits within a 5,000-acre estate that includes the mountains of Luggala and Knocknacloghoge and the lake of Lough Tay. Tara Browne, who died at the age of 21 in a car crash in London, is buried on the estate. A prominent member of London's swinging 1960s counterculture set (he supposedly introduced his friend Paul McCartney to LSD in 1966), Tara was under the influence of alcohol and other drugs on December 18, 1966 when, traveling at over 100 mph, he ran a traffic light and crashed into a parked truck in South Kensington. His death inspired the song "A Day in the Life" by the Beatles, which was released on their 1967 album "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band." For his 21st birthday party at Luggala, Tara famously flew in almost 200 guests on private jets. In 2016 Paul Howard published a biography of Tara Browne entitled "I Read the News Today, Oh Boy."

  • House Listed: Unknown

    Park Listed: Unknown

  • "Zardoz" (1974). "The Hard Way" (1980). "Excalibur" (1981 - using Lough Tay lake on the edge of the estate). "Braveheart" (1995 - using the estate). "Animal Farm" (1999 - TV, using the estate). "King Arthur" (2004). "Leap Year" (2010). "Vikings" (2013 - TV series).

  • Past Seat / Home of: Peter LaTouche, 1787-1830. Mervyn Richard Wingfield, 8th Viscount Powerscourt, until 1937. Arthur Ernest Guinness, 1937. Oonagh, Lady Oranmore and Browne, 1937-70; Garech Domnagh Browne, 1970-2018; Browne-Guinness family here from 1937 until 2019.

    Current Ownership Type: Individual / Family Trust

    Primary Current Ownership Use: Private Home

  • House Open to Public: No

    Historic Houses Member: No

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