Two animal welfare charities share €500k windfall over ‘royal’ mix-up

A “royal” mix-up has led to a €500,000 windfall for two Limerick animal welfare organisations.

When Elizabeth Burke, with an address at 70 Ailesbury Rd, Donnybrook, Dublin 4, died in Oct, 2011, she sought to make a donation to a particular animal welfare charity in Limerick.

On going through her papers to complete probate, her solicitor discovered that she requested this sizeable sum go to the Limerick branch of the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. However, no such organisation exists.