Dunne’s son demands Ronaldo and Ali memorabilia

John Dunne, the son of Carlow-born developer Seán Dunne, has written to his father's Irish bankruptcy trustee demanding the return of various items seized from a house in the K Club, Co Kildare.

Mr Dunne Jr, whose father went bankrupt with debts of $942 million (€690m), wrote earlier this year to Chris Lehane, his father's Irish bankruptcy trustee, to tell him he owns some items taken from the house.

He said a pair of boxing gloves signed by Muhammad Ali and a Manchester United jersey signed by Ronaldo were his and did not belong to his father.

In addition he said a framed flag taken from the 18th hole of the 100th US Open in Pebble Beach, California, in 2000, was also his as was a signed South African rugby jersey.

Mr Dunne Jr, who lives in America and is building a $21.5 million apartment and retail development in the SoHo neighbourhood of New York city, also claimed that two works of modern art and three small framed artworks were his.

He also laid claim to some depictions of Landsdowne Road among a series taken from the house in Straffan, Co Kildare.

The budding developer, in his late-20s, told Mr Lehane that in July 2013 he had “transported” some items he owned to America from the former family home on Shrewsbury Road, Dublin 4.

These artworks were, he said, included "three replica Andy Warhol" images of Marilyn Monroe and a painting of Muhammad Ali. Mr Dunne Jr gave a prestigious address on the Avenue of the Americas in New York as his location for correspondence.

Last November Mr Lehane applied for a warrant to search and seize items in the K Club house. He believed there could be expensive artworks there, based in part on an insurance report from Chubb International which valued the contents of the house and Mr Dunne Snr's home in Dublin at €742,600.

However, the contents of the house in the K Club were later found to be far from the “baron’s Aladdin’s cave”. A list of its contents produced no artwork of significant value.

Among the items seized were a portrait of Seán Dunne's friend, former Irish Nationwide chief executive Michael Fingleton, and a painting by Mr Dunne Snr's sister of the Christina O yacht, on which he celebrated his second marriage.

John Dunne is building a the luxury commercial development in New York at a cost of $18.5 million, which he believes will ultimately be worth $21.5 million.

Apartments will cost up to $7.7 million each.