The Sleeping Beauty wakes

On my first visit in 2001, Sleeping Beauty was the only way to describe Knockabbey in Co Louth.

On my first visit in 2001, Sleeping Beauty was the only way to describe Knockabbey in Co Louth.

The property had been bought by Cyril O'Brien in 1998 and restoration work had begun on the historic gardens. However, all that remained of six centuries of activity was at best a skeleton with outstanding trees, at worse a ghost in danger of totally vanishing.

Four years later, the place is transformed and it is ...