Many across the country and around the world have learned with sadness of the death of Tony O'Reilly, described variously as businessman, philanthropist, giant of sport and media, and a marketing genius,
writes Brian Byrne. Many more epithets will be ascribed to the man and his life over these coming days. He was also a loving son, a husband and father, and a grandfather, and for many years the family's Irish home was the Castlemartin estate in Kilcullen.
Many people living in Kilcullen today may not know of Tony O'Reilly's connection with the town, so it seems appropriate that we repost here an opinion piece published on the Diary in 2014, at a difficult time in Dr O'Reilly's business life. We extend our condolences to the family, may he rest in peace.
Saturday, June 28, 2014. Viewpoint: Tony O'Reilly and Kilcullen
A long time ago, before I left the family business and pursued a career in journalism, writes Brian Byrne, I took issue in print with an anonymous contributor to The Bridge Magazine who expressed dissatisfaction with the purchase of Castlemartin Estate by one Tony O'Reilly.
I remember, in the sense if not the detail, strongly rebuking 'Bridgeman' for his suggestion that the new owner would be bad for Castlemartin and for the community. I wrote something to the effect that he was criticising 'one of our own' for moving in, when it could just have easily been a foreign and absentee landlord.
Castlemartin was at the time in a catastrophic state, the result of lack of investment in maintenance, because the Blacker family who had owned it for generations was essentially skint. As a youngster previously, I had been well aware of the distress of the once beautiful woods, including a fabled Laurel Walk which must at one time have been a beautiful place for visitors to Castlemartin to take a nature perambulation. When I was growing up it was a wilderness where I and my pals could play very realistic cowboys and indians, or whatever was the warfare theme of the day. There was also the ruin of the old church on the grounds, an even more dangerous place to play ... both because of its state and that it was much closer to the house, and the mythical wrath of Mrs Blacker.
Much of the original lands had been sold off piecemeal to pay taxes and the day to day living expenses of the remaining Blackers. What was left was in dire condition, good only for the gambolling of hordes of rabbits (before the 'myxo') which were easy targets for those who snared them for food and sport, and for the daffodils that bloomed in many hundreds each spring closer to the big house. Those last another point of daring for us youngsters, to snaffle bunches of them as trophies under the supposed glare from the lady of the house.
After Mrs Blacker died, the estate went to her nephew, Lord Grey Gowrie. Busy with his duties and business in London, he rented the house to friends for short stays, most notably, and for a full year, to the singer Donovan Leitch. Stories of wild parties abounded during that year, though the truth of it probably was there was more raucous activity as a matter of course amongst Kilcullen's own pub-goers than behind the supposed 365 windows of Castlemartin. At the end of the year, Donovan participated in a concert in the Town Hall Cinema to raise funds for Kilcullen Tennis Club.
Eventually, the purchase that needled Bridgeman to pen his anonymous jibes (which possibly also triggered myself to eventually go the journalism road) came to pass. And over the following years and decades, Castlemartin was not just restored to what may have been former glory, but much beyond. The house was refurbished, modernised and its outbuildings converted to guest quarters. Under the expert guidance of Tony O'Reilly's farm manager Jim Kelly, the lands were restored to top condition. Slowly and carefully, a winning herd of pedigree cattle, and a growing stable of seriously good horses were established on what was by then known as Castlemartin Stud.
It was also a family home for the O'Reillys when they were in Ireland — home for much of the year being in Pittsburgh, headquarters of the Heinz food conglomerate where Tony O'Reilly eventually became the first non-family chairman. The woods were repaired, and further lands acquired across the river, which were made accessible by building a new bridge across the Liffey.
The ruin of the 12th century Church was dealt with by employing the celebrated architect Percy Le Clerc to oversee a complete rebuilding, in as far as possible using the same materials and techniques as would have been originally. It was a project of love, as no financial gain could come of the money and time invested in it. Afterwards, Dr O'Reilly (he achieved his doctorate in his early days at Castlemartin on a food industry marketing subject) made the tiny area around the reconsecrated St Mary's Church the final resting place for his father and mother, and two of his grandchildren.
I feel a strong connection with the reconstruction of the church, as Dr O'Reilly asked me to keep a photographic record of the rebuilding from before it was begun. That's why there's an album in the house today showing the whole project as it went along. And also why, in the back of the church itself, there's an enlarged picture of the original ruin, with my daughter Caroline picking her way through the rubble. In the picture, she's around the same age as her own daughters are now. I have spoken of this on a number of occasions when the church was made available to a local charitable group for fundraising events.
Through the four decades that Castlemartin has been in the ownership of Tony O'Reilly, many groups, clubs, and individuals in Kilcullen have been recipients of financial support from him. I suspect that no request for help for community projects in Kilcullen was left unanswered, and positively. The Community Centre, the Town Hall Theatre, the parish church are just three of the more public facilities which benefited in one way or another. And the Dun Ailinne Commemorative Park, for the dedication of which he and his wife commissioned a musical composition from Liam O'Flynn. Tony O'Reilly may not have been a regular on Main Street, but through the eyes and ears of Jim Kelly he was kept aware of all that mattered in the community. 'Bridgeman' was wrong. For some 40 years, Tony O'Reilly in Castlemartin has been nothing but good for the town. It's probably the case that nobody will ever know the true value of that good.
As a nation we have a propensity to pull down those who grow beyond the rest of us. Sometimes we tend to be a tad gleeful when they fall. If somebody has lived well because they can afford it on the basis of what they have made of their talents, we do sometimes let jealousy take over. I feel a profound sadness about what is happening in Tony O'Reilly's life and particularly in relation to Castlemartin. In many ways, he is but the latest casualty of the last decade of boom and bust in Ireland. The truth is, circumstances and perhaps bad judgements combined in conspiracy, and along with others who flew high, Tony O'Reilly has been brought to earth in an unsoft landing. But we shouldn't forget his achievements, both for himself and this country. He made himself Ireland's first richest man in modern times. His vision, ability, encouragement and example no doubt helped to lift the country out of difficult situations. He was also prepared to fully support businesses in which he invested. Unfortunately, sometimes beyond what he should have where his heart ruled over what his head was probably shouting at him.
We shouldn't forget either that he became a Kilcullen man, even if he has spent most of recent years in other homes around the world. This is a sad week for him, and for the family which as children played on the grass in front of where we fancied Mrs Blacker was glaring at us as we stole her daffodils. It's also a sad week for Kilcullen, or at least for those of us who look beyond today's 'End of Empire' headlines in the Independent newspaper that he once owned, and which today is almost glorying in his decline.
I wonder if 'Bridgeman' (I waved to him at the bus stop the other day) will have a comment on whoever buys Castlemartin from AIB, probably at a knockdown price in relation to its real value? Whatever, I take this moment to think of Dr Tony O'Reilly, and say, on behalf of all those in this community whom he helped, 'thank you'. And we wish you better fortune again in your future. (Kilcullen Diary, June 28, 2014.)
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