Birr Castle owners selling €3.5m private box at London’s Albert Hall
The Royal Albert Hall held a 150-year celebration in 2021 after losing millions of pounds during the pandemic. Photo: Matt Crossick/PA
Brendan Parsons, 7th Earl of Rosse, at Birr Castle, Co Offaly.
The owners of Birr Castle in Co Offaly, Brendan and Alison Parsons, are selling their private box at London’s iconic Albert Hall for £3m (€3.5m).
Mr Parsons is the 7th Earl of Rosse and his wife is the Countess. The Parsons family has owned the private box at Albert Hall since the venue was opened in 1871 by Queen Victoria.
The construction of the hall was partly-funded by the sale of a quarter of its more than 5,000 seats by way of subscription to wealthy patrons. The current Earl of Rosse’s great-great-grandfather, the 3rd Earl of Rosse, paid £100 for the private box, with a 999-year lease.
The Times of London, which first reported the planned sale of the box, noted that Box 14 has been kept in the Parsons family for the past 152 years.
But while the private box at the venue holds significant prestige, it also attracts an annual £13,795 (€16,000) bill as a contribution towards the maintenance of Albert Hall.
As owners of a Grand Tier box, the Earl and Countess receive tickets to any event at the venue not involving private promoters. But such third-party events comprise about two-thirds of the performances, including the Last Night of the Proms.
The owners also have a brass plate engraved with their name erected in the hall and can avail of private catering for an extra cost.
The Earl and Countess have said they’re selling the box because they don’t use it as often as they would wish.
The Times reported that there have already been enquiries for Box 14 from potential buyers in the Middle East, Hong Kong and eastern Europe.
Martin Bikhit, a luxury property expert at Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices in London, told The Times that the private box is a must-have asset for wealthy families who already have showcase assets from mansions to yachts.
“Fundamentally, it’s for someone who either has an immense appreciation for the arts with sizeable wealth, or it’s for an individual who has got the houses, the private jets, and the boats and they want an asset that almost feels as though it’s something money can’t buy,” he said.
The Parsons family arrived in Birr in 1620 during the Plantations. The current Earl spent his career in the United Nations development programme, living with his family in many third world countries. He returned to Ireland in 1979 when his father died.
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