Tayto Park founder, Ray Coyle leaves €74m in will

Farmer, businessman and driving force behind the Tayto Crisp brand and founder of Ireland's largest theme park, Ray Coyle has left over €73m in his will.

The Curraha man who died aged 69 is survived by his wife Rosamund, son Charles and daughter Natalya, with his fortune split equally between them.

The will was confined to one page and written on 1st December, 2020 according to a report in the Sunday Independent.

Mr Coyle, with an address at Skryne, Tara said he was “revoking all wills, codicils and testamentary dispositions at any time heretofore made by me” and wanted to “declare this to be my last will and testament”.

He also left €50,000 each to his sister Charlotte Reid, his niece Valerie Reid, his nephew Robert Reid, sister Jennifer Coyle and his brother John.

The remainder of his estate he gave “equally” to his wife, son and his daughter, a professional athlete who represented Ireland three times in the modern pentathlon in the 2012, 2016 and 2021 Olympics.

The will stipulates that his son, Charles should have majority voting rights in the family company. The “golden share” gives his son veto power over changes to the company’s charter.

Tayto Park founder, Ray was described as someone who viewed wealth not as personal gain but as a way of improving the lives of those around him and remembering where he came from, his home, his community and his friends.

At his funeral Mass in Curraha Church in June 2022, Fr Kevin Heery, PP, Curraha, told the congregation that there were many who benefited from his generosity and help, whether it was summer employment in the factory or in the park, that little bit of extra money to get into college, local farmers or helping sports clubs.

The recipient of the 2021 Meath Chronicle Business and Tourism Lifetime Achievement Award, Ray Coyle died in his 70th year in the Mater Hospital in June 2022.

The funeral was attended by then Minister for Justice, Helen McEntee, Lord Alex Mountcharles, and former presidential election candidate, Sean Gallagher, as well as neighbours, friends, and employees of Tayto Park.

Pupils of Curraha NS provided a guard of honour.

When Tayto Park ended its association with Tayto Crisps and became Emerald Park the move was seen as a poignant one for the family according to son and general manager, Charles.

"The park is such a big part of all our lives and he was the man who created it. This is a poignant time, as was the turning of the sod on the new roller coasters, as he had been involved in all of it, although not as much as he would have liked.

"He would be happy with how it is progressing, He left us a terrific legacy and it is up to us as stewards to do it justice," he said.

"It is a poignant time, but an exciting time and he was always looking forward to the next challenge."

The theme park and zoo was Raymond Coyle's vision and the long term ambition was to make it one of the best family attractions in Europe.

"What we want to do and what he wanted, was to make it into the best family attraction in Ireland and one of the top ten in Europe for a day out," said Charles.

The name change to Emerald Park took effect from 1st January 2023.