James Mansfield, Sr. (9 April 1939 – 29 January 2014) was an Irish property developer and millionaire
with a property portfolio that included the
Citywest
Citywest ( ga, Iarthar na Cathrach) is a suburban development on the southwestern periphery of Dublin, originally developed as a "business campus." It contains a large hotel, with a convention centre, a small shopping centre and a small but ex ...
Hotel and Golf Resort, several developments local to the
Saggart
Saggart ( ga, Teach Sagard) is a village in South Dublin, Ireland, south west of Dublin city. It lies between the N7 (Naas Road), Rathcoole, Citywest and Tallaght. It is one of the fastest-growing settlements in Ireland, showing a populat ...
,
Citywest
Citywest ( ga, Iarthar na Cathrach) is a suburban development on the southwestern periphery of Dublin, originally developed as a "business campus." It contains a large hotel, with a convention centre, a small shopping centre and a small but ex ...
and
Tallaght
)
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, image_caption = Tallaght, Dublin
, image_flag =
, flag_size =
, pushpin_map = Dublin#Ireland
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, ...
areas, and
Weston Airport
Weston Airport, also called Dublin Weston Airport, is a publicly licensed general aviation (GA) airport serving Dublin and its environs since the early 1930s. It is located between Leixlip, County Kildare, and Lucan, Dublin west of Dublin. It ...
.
Mansfield had been involved in high-profile disputes over planning permission for his developments.
By 2011, Mansfield's companies' debts could not be serviced, and his commercial properties passed to the
National Asset Management Agency
The National Asset Management Agency (NAMA; ga, Gníomhaireacht Náisiúnta um Bhainistíocht Sócmhainní) is a body created by the government of Ireland in late 2009 in response to the Irish financial crisis and the deflation of the Irish pr ...
.
Early life
Mansfield was born on 9 April 1939 and was raised in
Brittas,
County Dublin
"Action to match our speech"
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, map_alt = map showing County Dublin as a small area of darker green on the east coast within the lighter green background of ...
.
He left school, initially buying a lorry and working in the haulage business, then later renting or selling lorries to contractors. He allegedly made his fortune selling machinery left over from the Falklands war.
It was from this industry that Mansfield expanded his business empire to include the Mansfield Group and HSS Ltd.
Business career
Mansfield's assets grew in the 1980s, according to a 2003 report in the ''Sunday Business Post'' , upon selling 100,000 tonnes of machinery, including some 1,100 earth-movers, which had been left over from the Falklands War between Britain and Argentina, for an estimated £100 million
STG. ''The Irish Times'' estimated the profit at £19 million in the US and a further £7 million in the UK.
[
Mansfield realised that land was going up in value in Ireland in the early 1990s, and he successfully secured several thousand acres in and near Saggart, County Dublin, as well as other small pockets of land throughout Dublin. As property demand rose, so did the land value, and he successfully turned over his land assets. Mansfield's Citywest Hotel was built from scratch and established as the venue for the annual ]Fianna Fáil
Fianna Fáil (, ; meaning 'Soldiers of Destiny' or 'Warriors of Fál'), officially Fianna Fáil – The Republican Party ( ga, audio=ga-Fianna Fáil.ogg, Fianna Fáil – An Páirtí Poblachtánach), is a conservative and Christian- ...
Ardfheis
or ''ardfheis'' ( , ; "high assembly"; plural ''ardfheiseanna'') is the name used by many Irish political parties for their annual party conference. The term was first used by Conradh na Gaeilge, the Irish language cultural organisation, for i ...
and for GAA functions. He carried on dealing in his machinery trade, which once again added to his wealth, amounting to a reputed €200 million, as of a 21 February 2010 report in the Irish edition of the ''Sunday Times''.
In 1999 he bought Palmerstown House, an estate near Johnstown, County Kildare
Johnstown () is a village in County Kildare, Ireland. It is located north of Naas just off the N7 at junction 8. It is approximately from Dublin city centre, and is a home for commuters working in Dublin and Naas. Most of the housing was ...
, from Anne Moen Bullitt
Anne Moen Bullitt (February 24, 1924 – August 18, 2007) was an American socialite, philanthropist, and horsebreeder. In her youth she was regarded as a great beauty, and was known for assembling a wardrobe of rare and valuable classic haute ...
for IR£10million (€12.7million). In 2000 he purchased the Weston Aerodrome, a €13 million airfield
An aerodrome (Commonwealth English) or airdrome (American English) is a location from which aircraft flight operations take place, regardless of whether they involve air cargo, passengers, or neither, and regardless of whether it is for publ ...
to the south west of Dublin. He expanded the airfield to include a flight training
Flight training is a course of study used when learning to pilot an aircraft. The overall purpose of primary and intermediate flight training is the acquisition and honing of basic airmanship skills.
Flight training can be conducted under a str ...
facility but without full planning permission. In 2007 Mansfield's Citywest group bought the Finnstown Countryhouse Hotel and the property's surrounding 45 acres in Lucan, Dublin
Lucan ( ; ga, Leamhcán) is a town in Ireland, located 12 km west of Dublin city centre on the River Liffey. It is near the Strawberry Beds and Lucan Weir, and at the confluence of the River Griffeen. It is mostly under the jurisdiction o ...
for an estimated €50 million.
As of 2005 his wealth was estimated by ''Estates Gazette
''EG (formerly Estates Gazette)'' is an established provider of data, news and analytics for the UK commercial property market. It was first published in 1858 and celebrated its 150th anniversary in 2008.
In March 2008, ''Estates Gazette'' wa ...
'' to be £264 million STG. In a 2006 interview with the ''Sunday Business Post
The ''Business Post'' (formerly ''The Sunday Business Post'') is a Sunday newspaper distributed nationally in Ireland and an online publication. It is focused mainly on business and financial issues in Ireland.
Founding to Irish financial crisi ...
'', Mansfield claimed that his net worth
Net worth is the value of all the non-financial and financial assets owned by an individual or institution minus the value of all its outstanding liabilities. Since financial assets minus outstanding liabilities equal net financial assets, net ...
had been independently valued at 1.6 billion euros.[
]
Receivership
Following the collapse of the Irish property bubble
The Irish property bubble was the speculative excess element of a long-term price increase of real estate in the Republic of Ireland from the early 2000s to 2007, a period known as the later part of the Celtic Tiger. In 2006, the prices peaked ...
in the late 2000s, Mansfield had the main part of his empire, the Citywest Hotel complex, placed into receivership in 2010. The Bank of Scotland
The Bank of Scotland plc (Scottish Gaelic: ''Banca na h-Alba'') is a commercial and clearing bank based in Scotland and is part of the Lloyds Banking Group, following the Bank of Scotland's implosion in 2008. The bank was established by th ...
(Ireland) took steps to recover €170m loaned to two companies. On 20 April 2011, the National Asset Management Agency
The National Asset Management Agency (NAMA; ga, Gníomhaireacht Náisiúnta um Bhainistíocht Sócmhainní) is a body created by the government of Ireland in late 2009 in response to the Irish financial crisis and the deflation of the Irish pr ...
seized the last of the major assets in Mansfield's property empire. Apart from Weston Airport, also seized were six of his apartment blocks at Citywest and Saggart and at Palmerstown House Estate, which includes a championship golf course.[
]
Personal life
Jim Mansfield and his wife Anne had three sons, Tony, Jimmy and P.J.[ ]
Mansfield suffered from multiple system atrophy
Multiple system atrophy (MSA) is a rare neurodegenerative disorder characterized by autonomic dysfunction, tremors, slow movement, muscle rigidity, and postural instability (collectively known as parkinsonism) and ataxia. This is caused by progr ...
(MSA), a rare condition that causes symptoms similar to Parkinson's disease
Parkinson's disease (PD), or simply Parkinson's, is a long-term degenerative disorder of the central nervous system that mainly affects the motor system. The symptoms usually emerge slowly, and as the disease worsens, non-motor symptoms becom ...
. He died on 29 January 2014, aged 74, and was survived by his wife and their sons.
References
External links
Citywest
Weston Airport
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mansfield, Jim
1939 births
2014 deaths
Businesspeople from County Dublin
Neurological disease deaths in the Republic of Ireland
Deaths from multiple system atrophy
Irish businesspeople in real estate