Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg bought a 440-acre 19th-century Gothic-style castle in southeastern Ireland, about 200 kilometers from his company’s European headquarters in Dublin. The Facebook founder bought Strancally Castle, built in 1830 and renovated in 2003, according to a state heritage service. 1:59 Meta, Mark Zuckerberg could pay up to $1.4 trillion in damages in landmark lawsuit Previous video Next video Story continues below ad The transaction is not listed on the Irish state’s property price register. The Irish Times, which first reported on the purchase, estimated that the property could be worth between €20 million and €30 million. Reuters and The Guardian also reported that Zuckerberg had seized the property. Get daily national news Get daily Canadian news delivered to your inbox so you never miss the day’s top stories. The castle’s reported cost was 10 percent of the price of Zuckerberg’s 350-plus-foot yacht, which he purchased for $300 million, according to Yachtworld, and which recently made headlines after he allegedly refused to respond to a distress call from a nearby boat. A spokesperson for Zuckerberg told Reuters that he and his family were “excited to continue caring for this historic home and look forward to spending time in Ireland.” around 1,500 people in Ireland, which serves as the European home to several American tech giants including Google, Microsoft, Amazon and Apple, due in part to the country’s favorable tax regime. Zuckerberg is among a small group of billionaires who own a castle in Ireland, a country home to approximately 30,000 castles, according to a Castle Collector marketplace for potential buyers. American businessman John Malone owns Castlemartin House and Estate in County Kildare, an 18th-century Georgian mansion and farm, which Zuckerberg allegedly tried to buy from Malone in 2025. Sir James Dyson, the founder of Dyson, owns Ballynatray House on the River Blackwater, near Zuckerberg’s new castle, and recently received permission to build a helipad on the property, according to the Irish Times. More on trends More videos It’s not just ultra-rich tech tycoons who are taking over historical monuments; Actors and filmmakers have also purchased and preserved some of the country’s forgotten fortresses. Oscar-winning actor Jeremy Irons owns Kilcoe Castle, a 15th-century fortress that stood in ruins for four centuries on a small island in County Cork. Irons bought the castle in the late 1990s and restored it to its former splendor. American author, producer and filmmaker Christy Cashman owns Kilkea Castle, a medieval fortress of the FitzGeralds, Earls of Kildare, with her husband, which they converted into a luxury hotel and golf course. Crown actor Dominic West and his wife Catherine FitzGerald rescued and restored Glin Castle in Limerick. The 800-year-old fortress has been in the FitzGerald family for 800 years. The couple intervened to prevent it from being sold and renovated their gardens and interiors for guest and event rentals. Castles are a relic of Irish history, dating back to medieval times, when Anglo-Norman invaders built fortifications to defend their lands and property, often designed to inspire fear and intimidate potential intruders, according to Heritage Ireland. Thousands of castles in Ireland are legally protected as architectural monuments under the National Monuments Act, but the law does not prohibit private ownership, although it does restrict what the owner can do with the property. © 2026 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.