Markree Castle in County Sligo, Ireland

The 14th Century Markree Castle in Collooney, County Sligo, Ireland, had fallen so far into disrepair, that it was considered a lost cause until 1989 when Charles and Mary Cooper stepped in to save their family’s ancestral home.

Markree Castle now operates as a small hotel with a great restaurant serving meals in an elegantly restored dining room and is a popular wedding venue.

From 1830 to 1902, the castle had an observatory with what was believed to be the world’s largest telescope at the time.

It also was the site of the lowest recorded temperature in Irish History — minus 19.1 C (-2.4 F) on January 16, 1881.