Riverdance founder Moya Doherty and her husband, John McColgan, have spent €20 million on the purchase of a holiday home and waterfront estate at Martha's Vineyard in the US, the fashionable east-coast island renowned for its fine weather and celebrity appeal. Arthur Beesley, Senior Business Correspondent, reports
The couple, whose wealth has been estimated at more than €110 million, eclipsed records on the island when they acquired the 4.7-acre property at Edgartown Harbour in February for $25.17 million (€20.29 million). Their interest emerged in a Boston Globe report last weekend, which said the purchase was financed with a $37 million mortgage from Anglo IrishBank for the property, and it is believed extensive renovations.
A spokeswoman, Merle Frimark, told the paper they will not be moving permanently to the Vineyard.
Situated some 75 miles from Boston and 261 miles from New York, the island is as famous for the people that holiday there as it is for its sandy beaches and historic villages. Summer visitors include chat-show host David Letterman, singer Carly Simon, movie star Michael Fox, and film director Spike Lee.
According to the Globe, the estate has 300 feet of private shore front and a deep-water dock. The 3,900-sq-ft shingled two-storey house has four fireplaces and five bedrooms, each with a private bath. The kitchen and dining areas have ocean views in three directions. In addition to a boat house and guest apartment, with two bedrooms and two bathrooms, the property has a "lighthouseinspired observatory".
Moya Doherty and John McColgan created Riverdance, one of Ireland's biggest cultural exports, from a seven-minute Irish music and dance interval act in the 1994 Eurovision Song Contest that featured dancers Michael Flatley and Jean Butler.
That act was developed into the Riverdance show, which has been seen live by 18 million people in 30 countries. A new musical, The Pirate Queen, opens later this year in Chicago. It is based on the legendary sea queen Grace O'Malley, or Granuaile.
The former owners of the Edgartown Harbour estate, investment banker David Hedley and his wife Michelle, bought the property for $2.4 million in 1989.