THE Irish property industry lost one of its most colourful and popular characters this week with the death of Paddy Kelly of Kelland Homes, one of the Dublin’s largest housebuilders over the past 40 years.

A towering figure of a man, he was known in the business as “Gentle Paddy” to distinguish him from his namesake “Posh Paddy” who recently described himself as “broke beyond broke.” Paddy (68) was a native of Suncroft, Co Kildare, and after training as a plasterer he set up Kelland Homes in the 1970s with Joe Shannon.

The company built thousands of houses over the years mainly in Clondalkin, Tallaght and Rathfarnham and was noted for the consistently high quality of its work.

He and his close friend Sean Mulryan founded the successful property investment company Markland Holdings in the 1980s to acquire and manage commercial properties at home and abroad.

Its extensive portfolio is believed to include a range of commercial properties in the UK, Eastern Europe and the US.