Basil Brindley with family members at a children's hunt meet at Rathbeggan.

Death of former Killeen Castle owner, Basil Brindley

The funeral takes place tomorrow of Basil Brindley of Rathbeggan, Dunshaughlin, former chief executive and chairman of Brindley Advertising, who died on Tuesday.

Mr Brindley, a keen horseman, was a former owner of Killeen Castle in Dunsany, and his family lived at Killeen when the castle was burned by the IRA in 1981.

In his 92nd year, Mr Brindley had headed up Brindley Advertising, for decades the leading advertising agency in the state, which in 2002 topped the league table of spending in national newspaper with a €15.6 million spend.

A well-known bloodstock breeder and amateur rider, Basil Brindley and his wife, Maureen, bought Killeen Castle in 1978 in one of the biggest bloodstock deals in Ireland for many years, from Daniel Wildenstein.

The Dublin native was previously based at Hollyhill Stud in Brannockstown, Co Kildare.

The family had long associations with the Ward Union Hunt – his great great grandfather, Charlie, was one of the most famous huntsmen across Meath in the nineteenth century. A monument to him stands outside Ashbourne.

Basil, a Rathmines College graduate, made his name as a sports journalist, initially with the Irish Press, and specialised in motorsport, publishing many books on motorcar and motorbike racing, which he enjoyed participating in too.

He and his brother, Don, ran Brindley Advertising on Mount Street, with the Irish Government’s state advertising contract for many years, as well as with Quinnsworth with Pat Quinn, and Arnold O’Byrne’s  Opel, and many other major companies.

In 1981, during the hunger strikes in the Maze Prison, Killeen Castle, ancestral home to the Fingall Plunkett family, was destroyed by fire when four men set fire to it in a protest. A Salesian Brother from Warrenstown College across the Skane Valley saw the castle ablaze and raised the alarm. The Brindleys, who lived in the nearby manager’s house, were unharmed.

In 1989, the Brindleys sold Killeen, which now houses a Jack Nicklaus designed championship golf course, and moved to Rathbeggan House, Dunshaughlin, where they have enjoyed family life and their grandchildren following the same country pursuits that they themselves enjoyed over the years.

Predeceased by daughter, Sarah, Basil is survived by his wife, Maureen, family, Julie, Tony, Bernice and Buddy, 12 grandchildren, siblings, Fr Stan, Glo and Donald, sons-in-law; extended family, relatives and friends.

His funeral takes place in the Church of the Sacred Heart, Donnybrook, at 11.30am on Thursday, followed by private burial.