28-04-2025
‘King of crisps' and Tayto Park founder Ray Coyle leaves €74m in will — and only son in charge
Hunky Dory |
He died in June 2022 at the age of 70 and is survived by his wife Rosamund, son Charles and daughter Natalya
Businessman Ray Coyle and Mr Tayto. Photo: Fran Caffrey
Ray Coyle, who raffled off 280 acres of land in 1982 to pay back money owed to banks as his business struggled, left an estate valued at €73,219,649.63.
He died in June 2022 at the age of 70 and is survived by his wife Rosamund, son Charles and daughter Natalya, with his fortune split equally between them.
The will was confined to one page and written on December 1, 2020.
Mr Coyle, with an address at Skryne, Tara, Co Meath, said he was 'revoking all wills, codicils and testamentary dispositions at any time heretofore made by me' and wanted to 'declare this to be my last will and testament'.
He also left €50,000 each to his sister Charlotte Reid, his niece Valerie Reid, his nephew Robert Reid, sister Jennifer Coyle and his brother John.
The remainder of his estate he gave 'equally' to his wife, son and his daughter, a professional athlete who represented Ireland three times in the modern pentathlon in the 2012, 2016 and 2021 Olympics.
In capital letters, he stressed this was 'PROVIDED ALWAYS' that 'it is clearly understood' that his son should have majority voting rights in the family company. The 'golden share' gives his son veto power over changes to the company's charter.
Coyle was best known for growing Largo Foods into an international snack-food business which included the Tayto, Hunky Dorys and King crisps brands.
While Tayto wasn't his creation, after he bought the company in 2006 he was behind some of Ireland's most innovative promotions such as running Mr Tayto as a spoof candidate in the 2007 general election.
In 2010 he turned 22 hectares of farmland near Ashbourne, Co Meath, into a theme park — Tayto Park. He pursued the idea even when the bank withdrew its support. The park went on to make a profit in its first year and become one of Ireland's top attractions.
Ray Coyle in front of the Viking Voyage ride at Tayto Park. Photo: Frank McGrath
One of four children, he grew up on a farm in Curragha, Co Meath. As a young man he began growing and selling potatoes and vegetables on six hectares of land his father had given him. By his 20s, he had a turnover of £1m a year and expanded the farm to more than 300 hectares.
But he also faced financial struggles. In the early 1980s, when he lost a lucrative contract to supply potatoes to Tayto, he fell into huge debt, owing the bank £1.2m.
Unable to pay off the loans — even by selling his farm — he made the decision to raffle off more than 100 hectares, selling 4,000 tickets at £300 a ticket. It made enough money to clear his debts.
Realising Tayto had about 90pc of the Irish crisp market at the time, Coyle started his own snack-food business.
In 1982, he set up Largo Foods and a year later he purchased the Perri crisp brand. In the 1990s he acquired the Sam Spudz brand and broke into the UK market, successfully launching Hunky Dorys.
When C&C put Tayto up for sale, he won a bidding war against Michael Carey of East Coast Bakehouse, paying €62m for Tayto and King crisp brands.
Carey, a long-standing friend, recalled: 'He phoned me two weeks later and said: 'You cost me €5m.' I apologised and he invited myself and my wife to dinner in his home.'
Coyle later sold a 15pc stake in the business that owned the Tayto brand to German firm Intersnack in 2007 and his remaining 25pc stake in 2015, before stepping away from the business completely in late 2016.
His family now runs the theme park, renamed Emerald Park in 2023, after its deal with the crisp brand came to an end. Charles works as the general manager.
