Former Kerry Person of Year leaves €60m in will

Abusinessman who was once named Kerry Person of the Year has left more than €61m in his will. Crohan ‘John’ O’Shea, from Waterville, Co Kerry, who died in July 2022, lived on Coliemore Road, Dalkey, Co Dublin, one of the most exclusive streets in the country.

Mr O’Shea is survived by his wife Nancy and their six children. In his last will and testament, he left an estate valued at €61,244,608.

In a will dated a year before his death, he instructed that his estate be left to his wife.

The will also stated that if Mr O’Shea’s wife did not survive him by 30 days, each of his six children would receive one seventh of his estate, with the remainder going to trust funds established in the names of the couple’s grandchildren.

In the same circumstances, he instructed that €500,000 be left to the Kerry Parents and Friends Association, to be used for the purposes of benefiting Tigh an Oileáin, a centre on Valentia Island for parents of special needs children in the south Kerry area.

He said another €500,000 should be left to the children’s medical and research foundation at Our Lady’s Hospital for Sick Children in Crumlin.

Mr O’Shea started his career with the ESB on the Rural Electrical Scheme. In 1966, he founded CJ O’Shea Ltd in London to provide specialist formwork services to main contractors. It became a worldwide operator.

Regarded as dignified and modest, he supported several charitable organisations during his life and served on the board of directors of a number of non-profit organisations.

He received the Kerry Person of the Year award in 2011.