UCD professor of chemical engineering leaves estate worth €3.6m

Jim Walsh, a former head of the department of chemical engineering at University College Dublin (UCD), left an estate valued at more than €3.6 million when he died in January, probate documents show. Walsh, who was aged 93 when he died, had a long career at UCD. He worked on the design of wind tunnels and the drying and thermal degradation of biological materials in his early years and later moved into the area of atmospheric pollution.He became the Irish national delegate on the European Commission committee on Physico-Chemical Behaviour of Atmospheric Pollutants, and was a consultant to the OECD on the teaching of Applied Mathematics in Irish engineering schools. Walsh was also a member of the Royal Irish Academy’s National Committee for Theoretical and Applied Mechanics, and served as a long-term member of the UCD governing body’s Computer Policy Committee. READ MOREOutside of his professional life, he was a very active member of local community walking groups such as Let’s Walk and Talk, where he frequently led educational and social walks around UCD, Blackrock, Sandymount and Dún Laoghaire.Patricia Martin Farrington, an actor with an address at Brighton Terrace, Dublin, left an estate valued at €1.429 million when she died in January 2025, papers published by the Probate Office in Dublin show. Martin Farrington was primarily a theatre actor who performed in independent and local theatrical productions across Dublin throughout the mid-20th century.She was the wife of the late Conor Farrington, a well-known actor, playwright and member of the RTÉ Players, who died in 1996. Before her marriage to Farrington, she was married to Sean Martin.Martin Farrington’s notable creative ties lay behind the scenes and within collaborative circles. She frequently supported, performed in and collaborated on regional dramatic workshops, independent stage readings and local arts productions.Equestrian trainer Pamela Kerr, aka Pam Horan, left an estate valued at €2.78 million when she died in August 2025, probate papers show. She was based at Broomfield Equestrian Centre in Tinahely, Co Wicklow.Through her work at Broomfield, Kerr spent decades training and breeding ponies and running pony camps. She was known for her horsemanship and teaching skills, and dedication to local hunting, riding, and hunter trials.She dedicated much of her life to guiding, training and championing her daughter, Kate Kerr-Horan, who became a Paralympic equestrian.When Kate was four years old, she survived a near-fatal riding-related incident that left her with deep physical challenges and required her to relearn how to walk and talk.Para-equestrian Kate Kerr-Horan, with her mount Arlande and her mother, trainer Pam Kerr, at Broomfield Equestrian Centre, Knockananna Road, Co Wicklow, in 2017. Photograph: Nick Bradshaw/The Irish Times Under her mother’s guidance, Kate returned to the saddle to win at the Dublin Horse Show aged seven. She grew up to become an international Para-Equestrian dressage rider representing Ireland.Senior Counsel George Brady, of Donnybrook, Dublin, left an estate valued at €1.788 million when he died in September of last year. He was a known for dedicating time to helping younger, junior barristers to master complex cases involving competing wills, missing title deeds and land law.He was married for 56 years to Margaret Brady (née Lysaght), who was among the first 100 women called to the Irish Bar.