Sammy Leslie facts for kids

Samantha "Sammy" Leslie was born in 1966. She is an Irish woman who runs a hotel. She is also known for being on TV and judging reality shows.

Sammy looks after the Castle Leslie estate in County Monaghan. This big estate has a hotel, a spa, a place for horse riding, and a cooking school. She was a judge on the TV show Fáilte Towers. She also appeared on other TV and radio shows.

Sammy Leslie's Story

Sammy Leslie is in charge of the Castle Leslie Estate. Her family, the Leslies, have lived there since 1665. When Sammy was in her early twenties, she started to fix up the estate. It needed a lot of work back then.

Bringing Castle Leslie Back to Life

Sammy began by opening a tearoom. She used the money from the tearoom to fix a broken roof. This helped to make the estate better.

A famous event happened at Castle Leslie in 2002. Paul McCartney, who was in the band The Beatles, got married there. Today, the estate is a big business. It has 164 people working there.

Sammy on TV

Sammy Leslie was a judge on the TV show Fáilte Towers. This show was on in August 2008. She helped decide which teams did the best.

Later, in November 2008, she was a special guest on another TV show. This show was called The Restaurant. On this show, she tried food and gave her opinion.

Awards and Recognition

In 2007, Sammy Leslie was chosen as one of eight finalists. This was for a special award called the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award. This award celebrates people who are great at starting and running businesses.

Her Early Life

Sammy Leslie grew up in the big Castle Leslie. She talked about her childhood on a radio show. This show was called Conversations with Eamon Dunphy. It was broadcast in October 2007.

She spoke about her close relationship with her father, Desmond Leslie. He was a writer and a pilot for the RAF. Sammy also shared what it was like growing up in such a unique family and living in a castle.