Prof Richard Conroy, a pioneering figure in mining in Ireland and a former member of Seanad Éireann, left almost €5 million when he died in October 2024. According to papers published by the Probate Office this week, Conroy, of Newmarket-on-Fergus in Co Clare and formerly of Ballsbridge, Dublin, left an estate valued at €4,930,540. Conroy’s career spanned the fields of medicine, academia, mining and business. He held a PhD and was an emeritus professor of physiology at the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland (RCSI). He was an internationally recognised researcher in circadian rhythms, co-writing the first textbook on the subject, and conducting pioneering studies on jet lag and shift work.He was also known as a titan of Irish mineral exploration having discovered the Galmoy zinc mine and founded Conroy Petroleum (later Arcon) as well as Conroy Gold and Natural Resources. As a senator he was aligned to Fianna Fáil, and served as the party’s frontbench spokesman in the upper house for various portfolios, including energy, industry and commerce, foreign affairs and Northern Ireland. He also served as cathaoirleach of Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council.Conroy was also deeply involved in charitable and religious causes, notably as a chevalier of the Order of the Holy Sepulchre. He was predeceased by his wife Pamela and survived by his daughters Dee and Sorċa.Irish racehorse trainer Kevin Prendergast, who produced more than 2,000 winners in the sport, left an estate valued at €5.7 million when he died in June last year. Kevin Prendergast (right) with winning jockey Chris Hayes after the Tattersalls Irish 2,000 Guineas win in 2016. Photograph: Paul Mohan/Sportsfile/Getty Images Prendergast, based at Friarstown Stables on the Curragh, Co Kildare, had a career that spanned more than six decades. Among the famous horses he saddled at racecourses across the world were Pidget, a dual Classic winner in 1972; Nebbiolo, who won the 2,000 Guinness at Newmarket in 1977; and Oscar Schindler, who won the Irish St Ledger twice.Born in Melbourne in 1932, Prendergast was the son of champion trainer Paddy “Darkie” Prendergast. He took out his own training licence in 1963, and went on to win 10 Classic races. A well-respected face in the industry, Prendergast provided advice and encouragement to generations of top-tier jockeys – Charlie Swan, Kieren Fallon and Chris Hayes were among those who apprenticed in his yard.He died in June 2025 just weeks short of his 93rd birthday.University College Dublin (UCD) academic and author Jerusha Mona McCormack, who died in September last year, left an estate worth almost €4 million.Jerusha McCormack. Photograph: Dara Mac Dónaill The US-born academic, who moved to Ireland in the 1970s, was an internationally renowned scholar of comparative literature and an expert on Oscar Wilde. After leaving UCD, she turned her attention to Chinese cultural studies and taught for a period in Beijing.McCormack, of UCD and Waterloo Road, Ballsbridge, died at Our Lady’s Hospice in Harold’s Cross on September 5th, 2025, aged 82. According to papers published by the Probate Office this week, her estate was valued at €3.849 million. In other probate cases, prominent surgeon and medical educator Brian E Lane, of Castleknock, Dublin, left an estate valued at €3.39 million. Lane, who died on March 29th, 2025, was a fellow of multiple surgical colleges. He served as a senior consultant surgeon primarily at Beaumont Hospital and Connolly Hospital Blanchardstown and was a lecturer in surgery and urology at the RCSI. He was deeply embedded in both the medical community and his local Roman Catholic parish in Castleknock. He was also the brother of prominent Irish theologian Fr Dermot Lane.Prominent midlands businessman Tommy Tougher, of Tougher Oil and the Dolman Hotel, Carlow, among other ventures, left an estate valued at €2.022 million when he died in November 2023.[ Man who restored Ross Castle from ruin leaves estate worth €1.75mOpens in new window ]Tougher ran his fuel distribution business for over five decades while also developing multiple other interests, including service stations, The Belfry restaurant in Newbridge, The Flying Saucer restaurant in Carlow and the Dolmen Hotel.He also developed the Tougher Business Park located between Naas and Newbridge and donated land to Kildare Underage Soccer, which later became known as Tougher Park, to ensure young local athletes had dedicated facilities.