Knockdrin

Until the early 18th century, the main residence on the estate was a small Norman castle (often known locally as 'King John's Castle') which was destroyed by fire. The main part of High Park, the first mansion that stood on the site of the current Knockdrin Castle, may have been built in the early 18th century for Sir Richard Levinge, 1st Baronet, M.P. (1656-1724).

The Levinges came to Ireland with the Williamites, in the late 17th century. The first Sir Richard Levinge was Chief Justice of the Common Pleas and a member of the Lords Commissioners, who were appointed by the British Crown to settle all the land questions which had arisen in Ireland after the Cromwellian conquest, the Restoration and the Williamite Wars. Levinge took advantage of his position to purchase the Knockdrin Estate from the Tuites, who were the Norman-Irish owners up to that time. At the time the estate was over 12,000 acres (49 km²) in size. As of late 2020, the estate was approximately 1,000 acres (4.0 km²).[4]

During the Irish War of Independence, Sir Winston Churchill stayed at the castle, in a bedroom now known as the Crown Bedroom.[10]

During the Emergency (WWII), the castle was taken over for troop accommodation and was occupied by a company of the 6th Infantry of the Irish Army. The army left in 1945 and handed the castle back to the Levinges. The Levinges owned Knockdrin until 1946, although the last Sir Richard Levinge to live there (later a director of Guinness Ltd) had by then not been resident there for some time.[12]

In 1946, the estate was sold to Paddy Dunne-Cullinan, who remained there until 1961, when he in turn sold the estate to Hans Freiherr von Prondzynski from Germany.[13]

Significant changes to the castle had taken place by August 2020 when the description included this information:[14]

"twelve bedrooms and five bathrooms, a top-lit staircase made of carved oak, its own gallery decorated with fluted shafts and ogee-headed niches around the walls, reception rooms, a spacious dining room, ballroom, and a library. It also comes with commercial woodland, arable lands, and a small lake.

Another report, in September 2020, stated that major repairs had been completed, 50 years earlier and that the castle was "structurally in good repair but, given the passage of time, requires upgrading".[15] The property was subsequently sold "to the Meath-based entrepreneurial couple", Noel and Valerie Moran, previous owners of Prepaid Financial Services. They were planning an extensive restoration of the castle and outbuildings.[16]