Irish charities benefit from €30 million legacy
Howard Lake | 5 November 2018 | News
Six Irish charities have received over €6 million each from a charitable will, the largest ever legacy bequest in Ireland.
According to The Irish Times, the late Elizabeth O’Kelly left the €30 million to be divided equally between to the Irish Cancer Society, Irish Heart Foundation, Irish Kidney Association, the Irish Society for Autism and the Royal National Lifeboat Institution(RNLI) after her death in December 2016 at the age of 92. When all the legal matters around the will settlement were concluded another €1 million was divided between the charities.
The RNLI told the Irish Times it was “deeply grateful and humbled” by the generosity of Ms O’Kelly, who for many years volunteered her time to help out at the RNLI.
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“Throughout her life, she displayed great kindness towards her many friends and was most charitable in supporting those in need,” said a spokesperson for the RNLI. In 2017 the RNLI had an income of just over €10 million.
The €6 million donation to the Irish Cancer Society (ICS) was the largest donation ever received by the charity, and the equivalent of two annual Daffodil Day fundraising efforts. In 2017 ICS’s total legacy and donation income was €8.9 million and €3.5 million the year before. According to the Irish Times, Ms O’Kelly had survived cancer in the 1980s.
Ms O’Kelly’s wealth came from the ownership and sale of a regional chain of Irish newspapers in the mid 2000s. The media organisation was sold for €138.5 million in 2005. After debts were paid off, Ms O’Kelly took a near-quarter share of the €120 million left over.
- Radio legacy campaign launched in Ireland (22 September 2010)
- Sector initiative launches to champion legacy fundraising (16 February 2023)
- Legacy Promotion Ireland launches radio campaign (9 September 2009)
About Howard Lake
Howard Lake is consultant editor of UK Fundraising. He founded the site in 1994 and successfully sold it in 2022. As director of Giving X Ltd he is exploring growing giving on a massive scale.
He is the founder of Fundraising Camp and co-founder of GoodJobs.