‘We’re well used to seeing helicopters’: Knockanore awaits latest billionaire Zuckerberg

Apparently he’s worth $200 billion – you’d be doing the Shamrocks Lotto for a long time before you’d win that sort of money,” smiled Knockanore native Martin Sheehan, nodding to the sign for the local GAA club showing a prize fund this month of €20,000. Martin, like many in the tiny west Waterford community of a few hundred souls, was talking about the news that Facebook founder, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg had spent between €20 and €30 million for the local 19th-century stately home Strancally Castle. Previously best known for Knockanore Farmhouse Cheese, Baldwin’s Ice Cream, and local former hurler Eoin Murphy, the parish now found itself making headlines. Sheehan was speaking to local woman Mary Tobin in the church grounds, who first heard the news at Mass after *The Irish Times* broke the story. “I heard it at Mass yesterday that he had bought from the Alen-Buckleys,” she said. “They kept to themselves, but we used to see them at Mass at Christmas and Easter, and they had a wedding here a few years ago. We have no idea how much we’ll see of Mr Zuckerberg.” Like Zuckerberg, Colman Kirby and his partner Jemima Ottman are newcomers to Knockanore, though they were happy to discuss their new neighbor. Kirby and Ottman were finishing a paint job on the statue of Jesus in the church grounds. “There were rumors a few weeks ago, but it wasn’t until we heard it yesterday that we knew for sure,” Kirby said. “But €20 to €30 million is only loose change to him—it’s just a fraction of what he paid for his yacht and jets.” Ottman noted that Zuckerberg’s purchase may have been influenced by Kelcy Warren’s recent acquisition of Waterford Regional Airport and its runway extension, allowing his executive jets to land there. “We’re well used to seeing helicopters around here,” she said. “James Dyson, who owns Ballynatray House near Youghal, comes by helicopter, and we’ve had a sheikh with a stud farm visiting by helicopter as well. Another helicopter won’t make much difference.” Kirby joked, “Apparently Mark, we’ll call him Mark, either of his jets can make it here from San Francisco in one fuel tank, so I presume he’ll apply for a helicopter pad at Strancally. Once he gets that, he’ll be here in no time from the airport.” Local man Aidan Sexton, working at Knockanore National School, suggested Zuckerberg and his wife Priscilla Chan would likely keep to themselves at Strancally, which spans 440 acres of grassland and woodland along the Blackwater River. “Any man with money coming into the area has to be good,” Sexton said with a wink. “They’ll likely stay private, but Dyson, who lives in Ballynatray, donated money for the local AstroTurf, so maybe the Shamrocks might ask Zuckerberg for a few bob. He can hardly say ‘no,’ can he?” Strancally Castle’s purchase by Zuckerberg has drawn comparisons to the local presence of other wealthy visitors, including Dyson and a sheikh with a stud farm, all of whom arrive by helicopter.