Former U2 accountant Ossie Kilkenny loses Killiney home after racking up €2.1m arrears

Judge John O’Connor was apprised of the deal today by barrister Tomas Keys, counsel for Pepper, when he told the Circuit Civil Court it could make a consent order for possession against the Kilkennys and in favour of the bank.

Mr Keys, who appeared with Amoss Llp solicitors, told Judge O’Connor the court would have read the papers in the drawn-out case which divulged an overall arrears debt of €2,186,434 against Lissadrone, Killiney Hill, Killiney, Co Dublin, the family home of Osmond and his wife Anna Kilkenny.

Counsel said there had been engagement between the parties, more directly by their solicitors, under a resolution process and the Kilkennys had agreed to the court making an order for possession of Lissadrone in favour of Pepper Finance.

“The court will have seen the arrears and, given the engagement between the parties, both are agreeable for the court to put a stay of 12 months on execution of the order for possession to facilitate ongoing talks,” Mr Keys told Judge O’Connor.

Mr Keys added that it was also agreed that no order for costs be made by the court against the Kilkennys. Counsel for the couple indicated his clients’ agreement to the orders being made.

Caroline Loftus, senior operations manager for Pepper Finance Corporation, in an update to the court in respect of the current position of the Kilkennys’ mortgage account, stated in an affidavit that as of 2nd November 2023 the outstanding balance of arrears on the now expired mortgage had increased from €2,088,432 to €2, 186,434, an increase of €98,000.

Mr Kilkenny (77) and his wife, Anna, were not in court for the announcement of the making of the possession order. Judge O’Connor made the orders requested by both parties.

Mr Kilkenny was a prominent name in show business as he was the accountant for U2 for more than 20 years. He also previously worked with Bob Geldof, Van Morrison, Oasis, Elvis Costello and Sinéad O’Connor.

Over the years, the Dubliner was involved in a number of business projects and was one of the organisers behind the Woodstock 1999 festival in New York.

The festival – which was marred in controversy due to riots, arson and severe overcrowding – featured in a Netflix documentary in 2022 called Trainwreck: Woodstock 99.

Mr Kilkenny also previously served as chairman of both the Irish Film Board and the Irish Sports Council.

He also held a stake in Ardmore Studios, Ireland’s best known movie and TV facility, with a long history of film and TV hits including recent productions ranging from Dancing with the Stars for RTÉ to The Tudors and Penny Dreadful.

In 2009, he was hired as an adviser by Britain’s Got Talent runner-up Susan Boyle.

He was also one of the founding shareholders of TV3 and served on the board of Special Olympics International.