Mother and daughters in dispute over farmer’s will

Former wife of millionaire Tony O’Reilly starts legal action over €2.5m from piggery sale

A DISPUTE over the terms of the will of one of Ireland’s wealthiest farmers was briefly mentioned in the High Court last week after his former wife, Rita O’Reilly, began proceedings against her two daughters Valerie and Susan O’Reilly.

She is seeking court orders against them relating to their duties as executors of the will of their multi-millionaire father, Tony O’Reilly.

Mr O’Reilly was one of Ireland’s best-known tillage farmers, accumulating a 600 acre estate near Grange, Co Tipperary over a 45-year period.

He also owned a thousandacre estate in Poland and was said to be one of the most progressive farmers in the country.

His farm was sold for more than €11m to the adjoining Coolmore farm, which was founded and is owned by reclusive billionaire art collector John Magnier.

Mr O’Reilly was described by the Irish Farmers Journal as “an icon of change and modernisation” in the farming industry in Ireland, and was widely known as one of the best tillage farmers in the country.

Mr O’Reilly and his wife Rita were married for 40 years.

Mrs O’Reilly (70) issued judicial separation proceedings in 2013 and the couple, who have four children, were divorced in 2016.

The dispute between the mother and two daughters revolves around €2.5m from the sale of a piggery which Mr O’Reilly retained after he sold his land holdings in Ireland to the Coolmore horse breeding conglomerate.

Before he died on July 11, 2018 at the age of 75, Mr O’Reilly made a will appointing his daughters Valerie, who lives in Dublin, and Susan, who lives in Cork, as his executors.

A grant of probate was issued “on or about April, 2019” so that his assets could be distributed.

But the executors’ mother Rita O’Reilly now claims that the executors of her former husband’s will “continue to frustrate her entitlements” and have not provided her with pertinent information in relation to “substantial” sums accrued from the sale of the piggery to a Mr Wright in 2018.

She initiated legal proceedings, seeking a Mareva Injunction to prevent assets being taken abroad and orders of discovery against her daughters. Papers have been lodged in the High Court but, as it was ‘‘ex parte’’, only Mrs O’Reilly’s side of the story has emerged.

She is disputing certain sums of money associated with the piggery and claims she has an interest or entitlement to a percentage of the proceeds of the sale of the piggery.

Mrs O’Reilly has employed a forensic accountant to examine the books of the piggery and is now seeking orders of discovery of various documents including bank statements associated with the piggery, her daughters and the estate of her former husband.

Mrs O’Reilly’s address is given on legal documents as Togher House, Drogheda Street, Monasterevin, Co Kildare, a 19th-Century villa described in the property pages as “a stunning period property” with 12 bedrooms set in 9.6 acres when it went up for sale some years ago. The famous Irish tenor Count John McCormack once lived there for two years while his nearby residence Moore Abbey was being renovated.

Mrs O’Reilly said last Friday she was just renting the house at the moment: “I don’t own it.”

The case of the mother as plaintiff and her daughters as defendants was mentioned in the High Court before Justice Mark Sanfey last Wednesday and is due for mention again at the end of the month.