Open day gave preview of developments at Killua Castle

Towards the end of this year, an upscale new restaurant is to open in the delightful new courtyard just completed at the stunning Killua Castle, just outside Clonmellon.

On Saturday last the public had the chance to see the beautiful new buildings and get a sense of the exciting times ahead.

Behind the development are the indefatigable Allen and Lorena Krause who, 22 years ago, bought Killua as a ruin, and have since then not merely restored the castle but filled it with an amazing array of antiquities and artifacts.

“The idea is to open a restaurant and a farm shop,” says Allen.

“We expect that to happen in the fourth quarter of this year and the idea is to have something that uses local produce but that really expresses it in the best possible way.”

Some of that local produce will include venison and beef from Killua itself, reveals Lorena, adding that they have already engaged two top-notch chefs for the enterprise.

The castle that Allen and Lorena have restored is breath-taking.

“This castle was built in the 1780s, but by the 1940s, it was derelict,” says Allen. It was owned by the Chapman family, ancestors of Lawrence of Arabia. An obelisk in the castle grounds purportedly marks the spot where Sir Walter Raleigh planted the first potato in Ireland, but Allen admits he doubts that Raleigh came all the way to Clonmellon to plant the first potato when he had lands of his own in Kerry.

Among the artifacts the Krauses have acquired for their caste home is what is believed to be Ireland’s oldest piece of furniture, ‘The ArmadaTable’.

“According to The Knight of Glin, it is Ireland’s oldest piece of furniture: it was made from timber and sculptures from one of the ships of the Spanish Armada,” Allen explains.

For many years, it was in.Bunratty Castle in Co Clare.

“It came up for auction and we were lucky to be able to get it and keep it in Ireland,” he says.

One of the many hundreds of people who turned up for Saturday’s open day was Martin Moore from Coole, owner of Kalex Construction.

It was Martin’s firm that built the new courtyard.

“We started the job around two years ago,” he says. “At times, it was complicated enough but we are happy with how it went.”

Guided tours of Killua Castle can be booked via killuacastle.com