Fortune hunt in hands of court

DERMOT O’REGAN has done a lot of digging in the last 19 years in his efforts to claim a family inheritance. But on May 6 a court decision may pave the way for a trip to the US where the fortune awaits.

On that day the businessman will ask the High Court here to allow him to open a grave in Savannah, Georgia, a move which may finally prove he’s the closest living relative of a woman who left a $160 million fortune.

Though the court is in a different jurisdiction, it is believed US authorities will allow Mr O’Regan to exhume the body of Irish-American Mary Ellen Sheehan and make DNA comparisons to verify his claim beyond doubt.

“The coroner in Savannah already told me he was willing to exhume the body,” said 62-year-old Mr O’Regan.

Through the help of genealogist Jim Herlihy, Mr O’Regan reckons he has a case already, but feels the only way to conclusively prove the link is through DNA.

Mr O’Regan, who owns O’Regan’s Precast in Ovens, Co Cork, says he is a first cousin, once removed, to Mary Ellen Sheehan, the last of a line of Irish-American property magnates who made a fortune in Savannah.

He has spent a small fortune already trying to prove the link. “I’m doing this for my family so that justice is done,” he said yesterday.

Mary Ellen Sheehan’s mother, Ellen O’Regan, was born in Bandon, Co Cork and was the sister of Mr O’Regan’s grandfather. Mary Ellen married a New York policeman, William Sheehan, when she was just 16.

“She changed her age on the marriage certificate because otherwise she’d have needed written parental consent,” Mr Herlihy explained.

It was her husband’s second marriage, he was 41, but he knocked six years off his age on the marriage certificate to make the union look more compatible. His first wife and child had died during a TB outbreak.

After leaving the police force in 1911, William Sheehan worked for a spell on the railways and then moved to Georgia. There he invested heavily in property. He earned a fortune and by the time he died he was a multi-millionaire.

The Sheehan’s four children all passed away, leaving Mary Ellen with the fortune. She died in 1983 and is buried in St Bonaventures Cemetery in Savannah, along with her husband and children.

Mr Herlihy says he has sifted through thousands of documents in the US and Britain to prove Mr O’Regan’s case. “All the records support the case,” Mr Herlihy said.

The High Court previously recognised Mr O’Regan’s claim to be heir to the fortune.

However, he wants to prove it beyond all doubt and if the court gives him permission to carry out an exhumation he will go to the US with the order. It is expected authorities there won’t stand in his way.

All that remains is a relatively simple scientific test.

If that proves positive, Mr O’Regan’s family will join the league of the super rich.