Harrier jump jet is a museum piece... but they do fly the other two planes
THERE are few houses that can boast a paved private runway complete with a Harrier jump jet parked up beside an aircraft hanger – but Dolly’s Grove, the Larkin family home near Dunboyne in Co. Meath, has just that. Bought for €4.2m in 2001, the 65-acre stud fam was owned by famed Dublin accountant Conor Crowley – one-time treasurer of the International Equestrian Federation – and his fashion designer wife Pat Crowley before the Larkins moved in. Today though, the property reflects the pastimes of the Larkins and their particular interest in aviation. Both Eugene Larkin and his son Rick Larkin have pilot licences and though the Harrier jet is museum piece ferried in by road, the Larkins own working aircraft which they use to fly around the globe direct from their front door. Records from the US show that a firm incorporated in Delaware – Twinlite Aviation Inc – owns two planes used by the Larkins. One is a light Cessna and the other an exclusive six-seater Socata TBM 700 business aircraft worth $1.5m with a range of 2,800km.
The Sonata has been used to visit a range of locations, including the German Hockenheim Grand Prix in 2005, and has also been logged at places such as Cannes and Luxembourg. It was also a frequent visitor to Britain, where some Larkin family businesses and their assets were taken over by Nama during the recession. But the Larkins flew further afield too, according to posts to aviation forums made by Rick.
In 2004 he posted to flyingireland.com about a trip to the Oshkosh air show in Wisconsin – one of the most famous aviation gatherings in the world. ‘We’ll be taking the TBM all the way from Dolly’s via Greenland over to Oshkosh,’ wrote Rick. ‘If you see us in the sea of airplanes, stop by and say hello!’