Thomas Flatley

Thomas John Flatley (30 August 1931 - 17 May 2008) was a noted Irish-born real estate developer and philanthropist. He was born in Kiltimagh, County Mayo, Ireland and passed away at home in Milton, Massachusetts. He arrived in Boston in 1950, legend has it, with $32 in his pockets and at the time of his passing, Forbes magazine estimated his net worth at roughly $1.3 billion. He developed properties mostly in suburban New England towns. They included the former Tara Hotels, a chain of mostly full-service, Tudor-style properties; Royal Crest Estates, again, large Tudor-style apartment complexes; the Mayo Health Care facilities, nursing homes in the Greater Boston area; plus various industrial parks, office parks and shopping centers around New England. Between 1997 and 2008, he sold most of his real estate holdings, though not all. He was remembered at the time of his passing for his quiet philanthropy, mostly to various pro-life and Catholic Church affiliated causes, domestically and around the world. He served for many years on the Board of Trustees of Boston College, the Jesuit university in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts, and on the Finance Council of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Boston, under Cardinals Medeiros, Law and O'Malley. He was instrumental in Boston College acquiring the Archdiocese headquarters properties in Brighton. His last big gift to the Archdiocese was a 140,000 square foot office building in Braintree, Massachusetts, on Boston's South Shore, to the Church, for their new headquarters, allowing for the Church in Boston to finally consolidate most of their offices in one place.