Cormac Murray, owner of the stately Ardsallagh House, near Navan in Co Meath, who died on 28 February 1975, left an estate valued at €750,000, according to papers published by the Probate Office this month.
Ardsallagh House, a 1,110 sq m (11,948 sq ft) Tudor revival house, was built in 1844 by the 7th Duke of Bedford for his son, John Russell, twice British prime minister, and the grandfather of Bertrand Russell, the prominent philosopher.
Murray, a prominent Co Meath builder who built Kilmessan Tennis Club and Navan Public Library, lived in Ardsallagh House with his wife Catherine from the 1930s until his death. Catherine lived there until her death in 1983 and their daughter Bernadette continued to live there until 2022, and died aged 90, in 2024.
According to papers published by the State’s principal Probate Office in Dublin, a grant of probate and administration of Cormac Murray’s estate was granted to his son, Donal Murray, in July 1992, more than 17 years after Murray senior’s death.
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However, Donal Murray himself died in January 2008, leaving the work unfinished. On 16th of September, the Probate Office said that what are called “letters of administration” of the estate were granted to the personal representative of Donal Murray.
That means more than 51 years after the death of Cormac Murray his assets may be distributed among the beneficiaries of his will.
In May of this year, Sherry FitzGerald advertised the property, then in need of complete renovation, for sale at €3.5 million. Later reports in The Irish Times suggested the property had gone to sale-agreed for a figure of €3.1 million.
Other notable former owners of Ardsallagh House have included the nationalist MP James McCann – who briefly published a newspaper, The Irish Peasant, in Navan.
The house, with its Tudor-style steeply pitched gables and tall chimneys on almost 200 acres sits by the banks of the Boyne.
[ Former head of State training agency leaves estate of €2.63mOpens in new window ]
Meanwhile, in other grants of probate, Leading trainer Edward O’Grady dies aged 75, one of the all-time greats of Irish National Hunt racing, left an estate valued at €4.09 million when he died in July 2025, according to papers published by the Probate Office.
During the 1980s and 1990s, O’Grady was the second-best of the Irish trainers at Cheltenham, based on the number of winning horses. The only Irish trainer with more winners was the highly successful Vincent O’Brien.
O’Grady attended veterinary college in Dublin but left to take over at Killeens Stables, in Co Tipperary, following his father’s death in January 1972.
In the 1980 film Murphy’s Stroke – a tale of an audacious, true-life Irish horse racing betting coup based on the 1974 “Gay Future” betting affair – O’Grady was played by Pierce Brosnan.
In a career spanning more than 50 years, O’Grady trained elite racehorses and at the Cheltenham Festival, had 18 winners throughout his career. Some of his most successful horses included Golden Cygnet, Ned Kelly (Irish Champion Hurdle), Bit Of A Skite (Irish Grand National), and Tranquil Sea.
Donnacha Fox of The Gas Works, Barrow Street, and Donnybrook, Dublin, a prominent investment adviser and founding partner of Quilter Cheviot Europe’s Dublin office, left an estate valued at €5.55 million when he died in January 2025.
According to a grant of probate, Fox died intestate, or without making a will.
He was a well known and popular member of Dublin’s investment community, having begun his career in 1994 at Goodbody Stockbrokers as a private client investment analyst. He also worked as a portfolio manager at Davy before becoming a founding partner at Quilter Cheviot Europe.
Andrew Fahy, chief executive of Quilter Cheviot Europe said Fox was a “hugely respected figure” within Quilter Cheviot and his loss would be deeply felt by many.
“His contributions and dedication have left an indelible mark on our company, and we will miss him immensely,” he said.
[ Leading trainer Edward O’Grady dies aged 75Opens in new window ]
