Manderley Castle, Dalkey

Manderley Castle is in Dalkey, Ireland, and was built in 1840 by Judge Robert Warren of the local nineteenth-century Irish community. It was erected to mark Queen Victoria’s accession to the throne, with the original construction undertaken as a Victorian-era castellated residence.

In 1928 the building’s interior was gutted by fire. The house was later restored by Sir Thomas Power, a member of a whiskey distilling family, who gave the property the name Ayesha Castle in reference to the goddess figure in H. Rider Haggard’s novel She.

During the late twentieth century the estate underwent a series of proposed and implemented changes. In 1988 detailed plans were submitted and approved to convert the stable building into living accommodations attached to the main house; the planning documents recorded a combined internal area of 1,300.336 square metres and marked a tunnel running from the castle basement toward the Irish Sea for sealing. After those permissions, the stable block was adapted into guest accommodation, an art room, an exercise space, a lounge, staff quarters and a large loft.

In 1995 the Aylmer family adapted the property for public interest by establishing the Stable Gallery, transforming part of the former stables into a ground-floor apartment and a first-floor craft room. In 1997 the musician Enya purchased the estate for €3.8 million, reportedly outbidding Michael Flatley, and renamed the house Manderley after the fictional home in Daphne du Maurier’s Rebecca. Around 1998 Enya stated that the building had fallen into major disrepair and needed extensive remodeling. Under her ownership security measures were strengthened, including the installation of solid timber entrance gates, the raising of a surrounding stone wall, and other protections. In mid-August 2005 there were two separate breaches of the property while Enya was present; one person was arrested and, in a separate incident, a household employee was restrained while an intruder searched the house and left with some items. The estate’s security arrangements include a panic room. The property is also known by the Irish names Caisléan or Caisleán Mhanderley.