Who Wants to Be A Millionaire?

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Irish Voice News

Who Wants to Be A Millionaire?

September 13, 2007

By April Drew

IT may very well be payday for a Limerick woman who thinks she could be the heir to a dead millionaire’s Virginia fortune.

Bridget Kelly from Moyross in Limerick saw an advertisement in the Irish Independent newspaper looking for Irish relatives of an American gentleman by the name of Richard Riordan-Schalk.

Kelly recognized some of the names that were listed as ancestors of Riordan-Schalk’s and called attorney Paul Lanzillota of the Manning and Murray law firm in Arlington, Virginia.

However, Lanzillota told the Irish Voice on Tuesday there are another 160 possible relatives of the dead man.

“At this point we have 161 names of people who might have been related to Richard Riordan-Schalk,” he said.

The tricky part now for Kelly and the other 160 possible heirs is to prove as accurately as possible their lineage going back four or five generations.

Lanzillota’s client, a former chairman of the American Press Council, died three years ago, leaving behind $1.9 million but never named an heir.

“The only heirs we can’t find are the Irish heirs. One half of this estate is going to the German side of the family and one half to the Irish,” said Lanzillota.

“We found the Germans very quickly, some of whom were in Chicago and one in Massachusetts. But for Ireland the research went back as far as 1842. The difficulty now is proving that they are heirs,” said Lanzillota, explaining that another $300,000 of the estate has been given an individual to settle a lawsuit.

Kelly, who is middle-aged, contacted Lanz-illota last Thursday about her possible connection to Riordan-Schalk’s forefathers. “I told Bridget that she needs to provide us with some information on how she is related and we’ll submit it to the genealogist and go forward from there,” Lanzillota said.

Anyone who can prove to be related to the following may be eligible, if proven, to claim part of the estate that Richard Riordan Schalk left behind: David Riordan, who was born in 1808 and died in 1865. Mary Riordan (nee McCarthy) date of birth and death not known. Both resided in Limerick.

Bartholomew Daly and Mary Daly (nee Walsh) who married on March 28, 1852 in Freemount, Co. Cork. They emigrated to Chicago and had three children, Elizabeth Daly Riordan, (September 9, 1858 to July 7, 1932), Michael Daly (October 10, 1856-death unknown) and Eileen Daly (July 2, 1864-death unknown).

Potential heirs must contact Lanzillota at Manning & Murray, P.C.. Suite 300, 6045 Wilson Blvd Arlington, Virginia, 22205-1546 or call 703-532-5400 before Monday, September 17 with proof of ancestry to of the aforementioned people.

“Anyone making contact with us as a possible heir must trace their ancestors back to the 1800’s in Ireland to be considered an ‘Irish’ heir on the decedent’s maternal side,” said Lanzillota.

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