One of Donegal’s most famous hotels has been put on the market for €1.2million.
The Fort Royal Country House Hotel in Rathmullan overlooks Lough Swilly and boasts beach front and also self-catering apartments.
Standing on 6.24 acres of mature grounds with a sweeping avenue from the county road, the superb setting includes beautifully maintained gardens and lawns, magnificent mature trees and hard surface tennis court.
The House was built in 1805 by Charles Rae. He retired here after being wounded while serving in the British Navy with Admiral Lord Duncan. It was during his time in the Navy that he visited the Caribbean Island of Martinique, and he named the house after the capital as it was then known, Fort Royal. He lived at Fort Royal until he died in 1847, when his wife decided to move back to England.
Fort Royal was leased out over the next 31 years.
The house was then purchased in 1878 by General George Montgomery of the Indian Army. Different generations of the Montgomery Family (relations of the Field Marshall) owned Fort Royal up to 1940, when due to the second world war amongst other reasons, the house was left empty for seven years.
It was in 1947 that Dr Bill Johnstone, a G.P from County Derry and his wife Connie saw Fort Royal and decided to to buy it as a holiday home. The building was in a poor state then and after one summer in the house, he decided to turn it into a hotel. Fort Royal began trading as a hotel in 1948, with various managers in charge.
In 1966, his daughter Ann and son-in-law Robin came over from England where they had been managing hotels and took over Fort Royal.
Their son Tim came back to work in the hotel with them in 1994 and after several years together, Robin and Ann retired in 2000.
Tim and his wife Tina now manage Fort Royal Country House.
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