Enya buys castle on Dublin's riviera

The waters below may be some distance from the Amazon river celebrated in her track chart-topping "Orinoco Flow," but the waves of Killiney Bay on Dublin's star-studded riviera have proved sufficiently enticing for secretive singer Enya to part with pounds 2.5m for a castle there.

For that she gets the atmospheric Ayesha Castle, a Victorian pile set in three acres of land with mature leafy trees providing sanctuary from the sightseers drawn to the neighbourhood where the likes of U2's Bono and racing driver Damon Hill have made their homes.

One of the most impressive residences in the area, the castle, with six bedrooms and two self-contained apartments overlooking the main courtyard, will allow the artist to cock a snook at millionaires living in mere houses. It will also provide her with greater privacy than afforded by the Dun Laoghaire harbour apartment she currently inhabits.

The retiring star, whose gentle electronic melodies have notched up sales of 20 million albums, can also gaze from her drawing rooms onto panoramic views of County Dublin's finest landscape, which, on dry days, is sometimes compared to the Bay of Naples.

The castle was offered for auction last year but drew no serious offers and was due to go to auction again when the singer agreed to buy by private contract.