Calls For Demesne In Carbury Up For Auction To Be Used As Public Park

Friday, 3 July 2026 10:41

By Daniel Maher

The demesne is the location of the source of the River Boyne, as well as being connected to Carbury castle, with rich heritage surrounding it.

A local group are calling for the Government to acquired the site of Newbury Demesne, which is set to be up for auction next Thursday (July 9th).

The group are worried about future access to the lands, with a large element of folklore linked to the Demesne.

The demesne is the location of the source of the River Boyne, as well as being connected to Carbury castle, with rich heritage surrounding it.

The site is 453 acres in total, with three acres of walled gardens aswell.

They have penned an open letter to the State, while also including local representatives in the letter.

A petition was also set up, and as of now has received over 400 signatures.

Speaking on Kildare Today, David Shortall, member of Carbury and Derrinturn Community Group said the group began working on the idea in recent weeks:

"We only really started talking about it a few weeks ago and if I'm honest, there were some rumours coming up on social media of who had bought it or who was going to buy it, and that really sharpened the minds."

While he accepts that the idea may be in vain, he insists the group must work towards a positive solution for the Demesne.

"We can be forgiven for being naive, this property may never come up in our lifetime. It might be naive, but I think we have to try."

"By and large, everyone agreed with us that it it should be acquired by the state, but the issue is the timescale, next Thursday is the auction date.We did write to the auctioneer, to ask them to consider postponing the auction, in order to allow for dialogue, because that's the only choice we had."

The full interview can be heard below: