Coillte has sold the dated Killykeen Holiday Village in the Cavan lakelands for under €900,000 to a UK-based modular home specialist with strong Irish links.
The 28 log cabins, equestrian centre and leisure facilities on 74 acres, located on the shores of Lough Oughter, have been on the market since last June through CBRE and Crotty Auctioneers seeking more than €1 million.
However, despite significant bidding from local interests, Killykeen has been sold to CABÜ which plans to develop a “retreat/chill-out” cabin hideaway based on similar facilities it has built in the UK.
This multimillion investment, which will see Killykeen reopening in April 2018, involves the upgrading of the holiday village over a three-year period and includes a spa, additional guest rooms and amenity buildings.
It will also require the reinstatement of a lapsed planning permission for additional holiday accommodation.
Recognise potential
CABÜ is owned by JP Ledwidge and Olivia Hutchinson of modular homes specialist Cowley Timber & Partners. "We were able to recognise the potential at Killykeen instantly," Ms Hutchison said.
“Our cabins are designed to blend into the surrounding environment, and the combination of waterways and forestry at Killykeen will allow us to offer an entirely different tourism holiday experience.”
Killykeen has been closed for a number of years. It was built as a showcase for Irish timber in the 1980s by the Office of Public Works. After Coillte took over responsibility for it in 1989, Killykeen operated at a reasonable financial level until the foot-and-mouth outbreak in 2002, when the State forestry company closed access to all forest parks.
The complex had depended on repeat business, but the foot-and-mouth crisis meant that cycle was broken and the park did not recover.
The holiday village was put on the market in 2006 and a sale was agreed at €4.75 million in 2007. But this was never completed and Coillte took court action aimed at enforcing the sale. The facility was put back on the market again in 2009 at €3.5 million but failed to sell during the crash.
Coillte manages the surrounding Killykeen Forest Park, which is designated as a special heritage area. Lough Oughter and its islands, which are spread over more than 8,900 hectares, form the southern part of the Lough Erne complex of lakes, which is also connected with the Shannon.
Killykeen Holiday Village is about 10km from Cavan town and 3.5km from Killeshandra, Co Cavan.
