Former Taoiseach Liam Cosgrave Former Taoiseach Liam Cosgrave has left more than €33 million in his will, including €6,000 for Masses to be said for his soul.
The Dublin politician, who died last October aged 97, had inherited the property from his father, WT Cosgrave, the first prime minister of the Irish Free State, and refused to sell it during his lifetime, allowing its financial worth to accrue.
The house itself at Beech Park is a modest bungalow, but it sits on 16 acres of residentially zoned land on Scholarstown Road which could accommodate up to 220 houses and attract some of the country’s biggest property developers.
In a will dated October 16, 2015, the majority of his assets will be divided in equal shares between his children, and he specifically left his daughter Mary €100,000 and the entire contents of the house “in recognition of the personal care and domestic assistance” she gave him during his lifetime.
He also directed that €6,000 be divided equally between six different Dublin churches for Masses for his family and the repose of his soul.
They include Rathfarnham, where he lived, John’s Lane off Thomas Street, where he grew up as a boy, St Mary’s in Tallaght, Whitefriar Street, Clarendon Street and Mount Argus, all of which he attended for religious ceremonies over the years.