Terence Crosbie (b. 1934) (Part 2)

Track 1: Terry Crosbie trained as a chartered accountant in Waterford and emigrated to London in 1958. He worked in the City for about four years at Whinney Smith and Whinney (now Ernst and Young), returning to Ireland to work in Galway for Goodbodys. Later he took up a position with Lord Dunraven in Adare, Co. Limerick, which lasted for twenty-five years, and he discusses the circumstances surrounding the sale of the Dunraven demesne in the late 1990s. Joan Walsh from Waterford became his first wife in what was known as a mixed marriage, similar to that of Lord and Lady Dunraven, and he discusses the influence of the Ne Temere decree of 1910. Terry recalls his Fleury grandmother, her family background and her brother, Charles Marley Fleury, who was a British Army medical doctor and who is buried in Hong Kong. Terry’s fond memories of the late Thady Wyndham-Quin, 7th Earl of Dunraven, and his American mother Nancy (née Yuille) are described. He discusses the changes which took place in Adare village during his time working there and he recalls that Lady Olein, the 7th Earl’s great-aunt, would not vacate Adare Manor when her brother inherited. He explains that Thady’s older sister, Melissa, married Sir George Brooke of Croom, Co. Limerick, and that the other sister, Caroline, married Lord Waterford of Curraghmore, Co. Waterford. He explains that in his position as financial director of the Dunraven estate, he was sometimes described as an ‘undertaker’ or hatchet-man. His previous experience dealing with business difficulties is described and he says that the financial problems at Dunraven had to be resolved. He further explains that following his mother’s illness, he and his family moved into Seaville House from where he commuted to work in Adare.