Thatched cottages with mountains beyond

Dr Tony Ryan (1936-2007), philanthropist and businessman, was the father of Cathal Ryan and grandfather of Danielle Ryan, the owners of the present lot. He was co-founder of Irish airline Ryanair, and also actively contributed to funding University education in Ireland, donating a marine science institute to the National University of Ireland, Galway, in 1993, and funding The Ryan Academy for Entrepreneurship, run by Dublin City University.

In July 2011 Christie’s sold Dr Ryan’s collection in the dedicated sale, ‘Lyons Demesne: Works of Art from the Collection of the late Dr Tony Ryan’. The sale demonstrated the breadth of Dr Tony Ryan’s collection of pictures and furniture that furnished his 18th Century home, Lyons Demesne.