Dragon’s house auction raises €273,000 for homeless charities

Two homeless charities will benefit to the tune of €273,000 from the auction of a holiday home on Inis Mór this afternoon.

The six-bed ‘Beach House’ at Kilmurvey was owned by Dragons’ Den entrepreneur Barry O’Sullivan, who decided last month to donate the proceeds of the auction to COPE Galway and Focus Ireland.

The property was part of this afternoon’s O’Donnellan & Joyce ‘Wild Atlantic Way’ auction in the Harbour Hotel, Galway.

It had an Advised Minimum Value of €300,000 and bidding opened at €210,000 before it eventually sold for €273,000.

Auctioneer Colm O’Donnellan described the donation as “an incredible gesture” and said the house is a “wonderful property looking right across the Atlantic”.

Press PLAY ► to listen to the audio clip from the auction.

The six-bed detached property, set on an elevated site, has magnificent views overlooking Kilmurvey Beach and is a 15 minute walk to the world famous prehistoric fort of Dun Aonghusa.  The natural rectangular cliff pool known as ‘The Wormhole’ is also nearby, made more famous in recent times with the Red Bull Cliff Diving event in 2012. above for the audio clip.

Mr O’Sullivan, a member of COPE Galway’s Board of Management said:  “I know from my work with COPE Galway the terrible trauma families who are homeless go through.  I also know charities like Focus Ireland and COPE Galway help many families and individuals to secure a home and escape from being homeless.”