Woman who left €30m in her Will to charities had Sligo roots



A woman who left €30 million in her will to five charities had Sligo roots.

Elizabeth O’Kelly left €30 million in her will to five different Irish Charities when she passed away two years ago.

A Laois woman, she had strong connections to Sligo.

Her paternal grandmother was Elizabeth Cooper from Markree Castle in County Sligo.

Ms O’Kelly, who died in December 2016, was a shareholder in Clylim Properties, which has property interests in Dublin.

She was also a previous owner of the Leinster Leader, which was sold in 2005.

The five charities set to benefit are the Irish Cancer Society, the Irish Heart Foundation the Irish Kidney Association, the Irish Society for Autistic Children and and the Royal National Lifeboat Institute Ireland in Airside, Swords.

Each charity will receive €6m.

The Irish Cancer Society says it is ‘deeply grateful’ after it received the €6 million euro donation, saying it’s the single largest donation they’ve ever received and is the equivalent of two annual Daffodil Days.

Meanwhile, Irish Autism Action says it’s gratefully accepted the donation, saying it will have a major impact on its work which will go towards research, training and promoting autism awareness.

The Irish Heart Foundation will spend the majority of Elizabeth O’Kelly’s multi-million euro donation tackling childhood obesity in Ireland.

Last week it was revealed 26 percent of 13 year olds in this country are either overweight or obese.

Former Ocean FM Radio CEO Tim Collins, now the CEO of the Irish Heart Foundation, says future generations of children will benefit from Elizabeth’s generosity:



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