Ireland rugby great Tony O'Reilly dead at 88 - family

Ireland rugby great Tony O'Reilly, who subsequently became a leading businessman before losing much of his wealth in later life, died Saturday at the age of 88 in Dublin, his family announced.

"He lived one of the great lives and we were fortunate to spend time with him in recent weeks as that great life drew to a close," the family said in a statement.

The Irish Rugby Football Union posted on X: "A legend of the game has passed."

Born in Dublin in 1936, O'Reilly made his Ireland debut against France in 1955 and went on to win 29 caps for his country.

But it was as a wing with the British and Irish Lions that O'Reilly secured his place in rugby history after becoming the youngest player selected by the combined side.

On the 1955 tour of South Africa, he scored two tries on his debut before appearing in all four Tests of a drawn series against the Springboks.

On the Lions' 1959 tour of Australia and New Zealand, O'Reilly played 23 games, including all six Tests.

His overall tally of 37 tries is the most of any Lions player, and his tally of six tries in 10 Tests is another Lions record.

Although he retired from rugby in 1963, O'Reilly was given a shock recall by Ireland during the 1970 Five Nations as an 11th hour stand-in against England.

Unlike many sportsmen, O'Reilly achieved arguably even greater fame as a successful businessman that saw him become chairman of H.J.Heinz, the US food giant.

"In the coming days there will be many worthy tributes made to Tony O'Reilly's unique and extraordinary achievements in the fields of business and sport," the family statement said.

It added: "But, for us, he was a dearly-loved dad and a granddad."

O'Reilly was the driving force behind Kerrygold butter, turning it into one of Ireland's best-known global consumer brands

He then became chief executive and chairman of Heinz, amassing a fortune that enabled him to take control of Ireland's Independent newspapers group. O'Reilly also invested in Ireland's Waterford Glass.

But losses suffered by the companies led to him losing much of his wealth.

O'Reilly was declared bankrupt in the Bahamas in 2015, aged 79 following a debt judgement against him for EUR22.6 million ($24.6 million).

The Irish Times reported Saturday that O'Reilly had emerged from bankruptcy in January of this year.

O'Reilly was also known for his philanthropy, setting up The Ireland Funds, which gave money from US donors into reconciliation projects around the Irish border in an attempt to undermine fund-raising efforts in America by the Irish Republican Army (IRA).

Twice married, O'Reilly is survived by his six children.