Niall Quinn finally agrees the sale of lavish Kildare home after more than two years on the market

Former Irish soccer star Niall Quinn has finally managed to sell his lavish mansion near Naas after the property spent more than two years on the market.

Quinn and his wife Gillian chose to put Longstone Rath up for sale in early 2014 as the couple sought to downsize, but offloading the property turned out to be more problematic than they would have envisaged. With an initial asking price of €2.5 million, the six-bedroom mansion proved to be a step too far for most prospective buyers, leading to the couple dropping the asking price to €1.95 million in May of this year.

The new owner will have access to a large American barn that comes with 10 loose boxes and a five-bay horse walker, while the property also has a tennis court on site.

Another well known Kildare property has also been sold this week, as Lily O'Brien founder Mary Ann O'Brien and her husband Jonathan Irwin agreed a sale for their lavish eight-bedroom property in Ballitore.

The couple have lived in the house for 23 years, but they are planning on moving back to Mary Ann's native Kilkenny after they agreed a sale for the property, which had been on the market for €750,000.