Ireland has long attracted famous faces looking for somewhere a little quieter than LA or London. From a West Cork castle to a Wicklow farmstead, here’s a look at some of the celebrities who have put down roots – or at least kept a bolt-hole – on the Emerald Isle.
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Sarah Jessica Parker – Donegal
The actor best known for playing Carrie Bradshaw in Sex and the City has been a regular visitor to County Donegal for years, though the family connection runs through her husband rather than her own roots. Matthew Broderick’s parents bought a cottage in Kilcar, a traditional village on the Wild Atlantic Way in south-west Donegal, more than 40 years ago. Broderick inherited the property, and the couple have spent summers there with their three children ever since.
In 2018 they put the place through a significant renovation – adding four bedrooms, a kitchen and a courtyard, while keeping the original cottage and the dry-stone walls that surround it – and it has become a proper family home away from home. Parker has spoken warmly about the area on Instagram, listing turf fires, the open smiles of locals and the quality of the lamb chops among the things she misses when she leaves.
Kilcar sits within the broader Donegal landscape that draws visitors back year after year: the Slieve League cliffs, traditional music sessions, and easy access to Killybegs and the wider south-west. For anyone thinking about buying in this part of Ireland, it offers a useful reminder that understated can be every bit as appealing as well-known.
Jeremy Irons – West Cork and Dublin
Few overseas property purchases in Ireland have been quite as dramatic as Jeremy Irons’. The English actor – a multiple Oscar, Tony and Emmy winner – bought the ruins of Kilcoe Castle near Ballydehob in West Cork in the late 1990s and spent the following six years restoring it. The result is a 15th-century coastal tower house (pictured above) overlooking Roaringwater Bay, now a private home on the small island of Mannin Beg.
In 2022, Irons added to his West Cork holdings by purchasing the 15-acre Mannin Island nearby – around 200 metres from the castle’s front door. He has since put Kerry ponies and Galloway cattle on the land. “I’m farming a little bit more now than acting,” he told a US chat show host after the purchase. He and his wife, Dublin-born actor Sinéad Cusack, also own a house in the Liberties area of Dublin.
The area around Ballydehob and Schull has long attracted artists and musicians who find inspiration in the coastal scenery. The Mizen Peninsula, Ireland’s most south-westerly point, is within easy reach, and the market town of Skibbereen offers practical everyday amenities.
Daniel Day-Lewis – Wicklow
The three-time Oscar winner has made County Wicklow his home for more than two decades, and by most accounts it has suited him well. Day-Lewis – knighted in 2014 for his contribution to drama – holds both British and Irish citizenship and has long said that Wicklow is “the place that sustains me”. His home is a Georgian estate known as Castlekevin, near the village of Annamoe, about an hour south of Dublin.
He announced his retirement from acting in 2017 following Phantom Thread, but returned in 2024 to co-write and star in Anemone, directed by his son Ronan. Day-Lewis is married to writer and director Rebecca Miller, daughter of playwright Arthur Miller, and the couple have lived at Castlekevin for over two decades.
Known as the Garden of Ireland, Wicklow offers rolling countryside, ancient monastic sites such as Glendalough, and the Wicklow Mountains National Park. The towns of Wicklow and Arklow are both within reasonable driving distance, and Dublin is accessible enough for practical day trips without compromising the sense of being genuinely rural.
Emily Ratajkowski – West Cork
Model and actor Emily Ratajkowski – full name Emily O’Hara Ratajkowski – has been spending summers in Bantry, West Cork, since childhood. Her American father John, a painter, bought and restored a farmhouse there more than 20 years ago and spends roughly half the year in the area, where he’s become involved in the local arts scene. For Emily, the connection pre-dates any of the red carpet appearances she’s since become known for.
Bantry is a working harbour town on the Wild Atlantic Way with a strong calendar of festivals covering food, agriculture, music and literature – including the established West Cork Literary Festival. A popular weekly market, easy access to hiking in the surrounding hills, and a range of water-based activities make it an appealing base for those who want more from a second home than somewhere to sit in the sun.
Christine Baranski – Donegal
Christine Baranski – perhaps best known in recent years for her role as Diane Lockhart in The Good Wife and its spin-off The Good Fight, and now starring in The Gilded Age – purchased a three-storey former rectory in the village of Lettermacaward in County Donegal in 2018. The house overlooks the bay and sits in the area known as The Rosses, one of the quieter, less visited corners of Donegal.
She has already made her presence felt locally: shortly after the purchase, Baranski turned up at Dooey Beach to unveil an environmental sculpture created from waste collected by community groups over the summer – a fitting debut for an actress who is also a vocal environmentalist.
The Rosses is a Gaeltacht area where Irish is still spoken as a community language. Local highlights include the beaches at Dooey and Maghery, scenic river walks and the town of Dungloe, which serves as the cultural and commercial hub for the surrounding villages.
Joe Elliott – Dublin
Def Leppard frontman Joe Elliott has lived in Stepaside, on the southern edge of Dublin, since 1989. While the band’s heyday was the big-stadium rock of the 1980s and 1990s – and Elliott still spends time in Los Angeles – his main home has been in Ireland for well over three decades, and he has a studio at the property.
Stepaside has the feel of a village while sitting within easy commuting distance of central Dublin, with views across the city lights at night and the Dublin Mountains as a backdrop. Leopardstown Racecourse is a few minutes away. For anyone drawn to the Irish capital but wanting space and a slower pace, it represents the kind of location that rarely makes the headline listings but tends to hold its appeal over time.
Thinking about buying in Ireland?
If Ireland has caught your eye – whether you’re drawn to the Wild Atlantic Way, the lush countryside of Wicklow or the cultural buzz of Dublin – managing your currency transfer well can make a meaningful difference to your budget. Smart Currency Exchange specialises in helping overseas property buyers move money at the right time and protect themselves against exchange rate movements. Speak to the team to find out how they can help with your purchase.
