Cork exhumation may decide fate of $165m inheritance

A body was due to be exhumed in Cork this morning as part of a claim to a $165m (€139.5m) inheritance.

Sixty-two-year-old Dermot O’Regan, from Ovens in Co Cork has fought a 20-year-old legal battle to claim the money since the death of Irish emigrant Marry Ellen Sheehan in the US in 1983.

Mr O’Regan claims he is Ms Sheehan’s only living relative and is entitled to the money.

The remains of the Bandon-born woman have already been exhumed in the US state of Georgia so a DNA sample could be taken.

The body of Mr O’Regan’s grandfather was due to be exhumed at St Finbarr’s cemetery in Cork today to provide another DNA sample for comparison.

If the two samples match, Mr O’Regan will become a multi-millionaire.