Tillingdale

Michael O'Leary's personal Mercedes, operated by O'Leary Cabs and complete with "for hire" roof bar

Tillingdale, originally Tillingdale Limited, is an Irish company based in Mullingar, Ireland. It was founded in 2000[1] to provide furniture management and horse breeding services under the name Gigginstown House Stud.[2][3] Since 2003, Tillingdale has also operated under the name O'Leary Cabs,[3][4] a provider of taxicab services.[5]

The company is owned entirely by Michael O'Leary,[3][6] CEO of the Irish airline Ryanair. During 2004, the company made a profit of approximately €500,000.[3] In 2013 the company was converted from a limited company to a privately owned unlimited company, meaning that public accounts no longer needed to be filed.[7]

Horse racing

The stud farm operation owned the 2006–Cheltenham Gold Cup winning horse War Of Attrition.[3][6][8][9]

Taxi services

The company owns a 2007–Mercedes-Benz S-Class taxi,[10][11] with Mullingar hackney carriage licence MG99[3][12][13] purchased on a yearly basis from Westmeath County Council[5] for upwards of €6,000.[14] The vehicle has a taxi meter fitted and is allowed to use bus lanes within Dublin.[15][16][17][18][19][20][21]

The Mercedes taxi primarily operates between Ryanair's headquarters at Dublin Airport, and Michael O'Leary's home in Mullingar[10][22][23]—a fare of around €86–£82 each way.[10][24] During the year prior to 2008, these charges amounted to €70,890[25] and had risen to €96,010 for the year 2009.[26]

At the end of 2011, the single-owner Mercedes S500L was put up for sale with an asking price of €20,000, under the description of "Ireland's most famous taxi" and showing 275,000 kilometres on the odometer.[27][28][29][30] The vehicle owned by Tillingdale had registration number 07D12245 and carried taxi plate number 14365.[31]

The current vehicle owned and operated by Tillingdale Unlimited has registration number 241D41728 and taxi plate number T14365.[32]

References

1. "Tillingdale Limited (#333471)". Company Details. Companies Registration Office (Ireland). Retrieved 7 March 2010. Registered: 04/10/2000
2. "Gigginstown House Stud (#194986)". Business Name Details. Companies Registration Office (Ireland). Retrieved 7 March 2010. Registered: 08/01/2001
3. Felle, Tom (24 May 2005). "No-frills airline boss spares no expense to extend estate". Irish Independent. Retrieved 6 May 2010. [O'Leary] is the sole shareholder, ... €500,000 in 2004 ... owns the business name O'Leary Cabs, bought Mr O'Leary's taxi plate in 2003. ... company's main activity is as a stud farm. It trades as Gigginstown House Stud Farm and owns a number of horses, including War of Attrition
4. "O'Leary Cabs (#232538)". Business Name Details. Companies Registration Office (Ireland). Retrieved 7 March 2010. Registered: 10/03/2003
5. Connolly, Niamh (30 January 2005). "O'Leary Cabs must open for business". The Sunday Business Post. Ireland: Thomas Crosbie Media. Archived from the original on 17 November 2005. Retrieved 7 March 2010.
6. Noonan, Laura (15 May 2005). "O'Leary firms make €500k profit". The Sunday Business Post. Ireland: Thomas Crosbie Media. Archived from the original on 9 March 2007. Retrieved 7 March 2010.
7. Mulligan, John (10 January 2013). "Michael O'Leary makes his personal taxi firm's accounts private". Irish Independent. Retrieved 6 August 2015. The airline chief has made the company unlimited, in a move that frees it from the obligation of having to file publicly available accounts every year with the Companies Office.
8. "The Totesport Cheltenham Gold Cup". Racing Better. 17 March 2006. Retrieved 7 March 2010. 1 War Of Attrition (IRE) (Gigginstown House Stud) Mouse Morris IRE 7-11-10 Conor O'Dwyer 15/2
9. Montgomery, Sue (22 January 2010). "War of Attrition ready for Grand send-off". The Independent. London. Archived from the original on 7 May 2022. Retrieved 7 March 2010. War Of Attrition, the best horse to have carried the colours of Ryanair boss Michael O'Leary's Gigginstown House Stud
10. Clark, Andrew (24 June 2005). "The Guardian profile: Michael O'Leary". The Guardian. London. with a meter and uses it to evade congestion between his Mullingar home and Ryanair's Dublin airport headquarters. ... an average fare of £82 for his journey
11. Brennan, Michael (17 February 2010). "Hopes of airport deal vanish as talks end in recriminations". Irish Independent. Retrieved 7 March 2010. 2007 Mercedes car (for which he has bought a Dublin taxi plate)
12. Connolly, Niamh (30 May 2004). "Ryanair boss rebrands as O'Leary Cabs". The Sunday Business Post. Ireland: Thomas Crosbie Media. Archived from the original on 25 January 2005. Retrieved 7 March 2010.
13. Connolly, Niamh (6 July 2003). "O'Leary's taxi may fall foul of new regulations". The Sunday Business Post. Ireland: Thomas Crosbie Media. Archived from the original on 29 March 2010. Retrieved 7 March 2010.
14. Connolly, Niamh (2 March 2003). "Taxi plate means no fares for low fares airline chief". The Sunday Business Post. Ireland: Thomas Crosbie Media. Archived from the original on 29 March 2010. Retrieved 7 March 2010.
15. Fitzgibbon, Frank (27 February 2005). "Irish Agenda: O'Leary's departure looks the only dark cloud for Ryanair". The Times. London. Archived from the original on 11 June 2011. Retrieved 7 March 2010. O'Leary skates through the bus lanes in his O'Leary Cabs in the rush-hour traffic
16. Vallely, Paul (7 October 2006). "Michael O'Leary: Plane crazy". The Independent on Sunday. London. Archived from the original on 7 May 2022. Retrieved 7 March 2010. hackney plate for his Mercedes – and had a meter installed in it to classify it as a taxi – so he could legally zip down Dublin's bus lanes
17. "Minister to force O'Leary 'taxi' off the road". Irish Independent. March 2005. Archived from the original on 1 May 2015. Retrieved 7 March 2010.
18. Lewis, Jane (19 October 2006). "Michael O'Leary: the outrageous Irish airline entrepreneur". Moneyweek. Retrieved 7 March 2010.^[dead link‍]
19. Capell, Kerry (2 June 2003). "Ryanair Rising". Business Week. Archived from the original on 22 June 2003. Retrieved 7 February 2010. Mercedes taxi and driver, enabling him to speed through Dublin's notorious traffic in the bus and taxi lane. "I've always been a transport innovator," he jokes.
20. Dugdale, Addy (7 April 2010). "Crib Sheet: Michael O'Leary, CEO of Pay-per-Pee Airline Ryanair". Fast Company. Mansueto Ventures LLC. Retrieved 12 April 2010. In order to avoid commuting-hours gridlock, he paid $6,100 dollars for a taxi license so that he could use Dublin's bus and taxi lanes.
21. Harrison, Michael (31 January 2004). "Michael O'Leary: Ireland's oligarch flying by the seat of his pants at Ryanair". The Independent. London. Archived from the original on 1 August 2010. Retrieved 6 May 2010. around Dublin in his own licensed taxi, which he bought so that he could slip into bus lanes
22. Clifford, Michael (21 February 2010). "Comment: O'Leary must have had great sport". Sunday Tribune. Ireland. Archived from the original on 28 February 2010. Retrieved 8 March 2010. as O'Leary was driven off into the Mullingar sunset in his mockeyah [sic] taxi
23. W (16 January 2010). "Michael O'Leary: 'I don't understand the point of holidays'". Irish Independent. Archived from the original on 23 May 2023. Retrieved 8 March 2010. on a farm in Mullingar and O'Leary commutes each day to Dublin airport in his much-famed taxi
24. Connolly, Niamh (9 March 2003). "O'Leary's taxi in legal gridlock". The Sunday Business Post. Ireland: Thomas Crosbie Media. Archived from the original on 30 November 2004. Retrieved 8 March 2010.
25. Noonan, Laura (16 July 2008). "O'Leary spent €70,000 on 'taxi' in a year". Irish Independent. Retrieved 8 March 2010.
26. Oliver, Emmet (12 July 2010). "O'Leary pays €96,000 to own taxi firm". Irish Independent. Retrieved 15 July 2010.
27. Taylor, Susan. "Mercedes "Taxi" owned by Ryanair boss up for sale". Cars4Stars. Retrieved 22 November 2011.
28. Motoring Research (22 December 2011). "Ryanair Mercedes 'taxi' for sale". MSN UK Cars. Archived from the original on 22 May 2012. Retrieved 22 December 2011.
29. Nolan, Sean (20 December 2011). "Would you like to buy Michael O'Leary's taxi?". Joe. Retrieved 22 December 2011.
30. "Mercedes-Benz S-Class S500L 500L". Carzone.ie. Retrieved 22 December 2011. Irelands Most Famous Taxi – One owner (Michael O'Leary) immaculately maintained limousine with full service history by approved Mercedes garage. Long Wheel Base. Full leather interior with many extras including leather steering wheel, light alloys, phone kit, wood finish and many more. Already fitted with taxi meter etc. … Mileage 275,000 KM^[permanent dead link‍]
31. Irish National Transport Association (23 June 2011). "Taxi Regulatory Directorate Database: 07D12245". Irish Taxi. Archived from the original on 30 January 2016. Retrieved 22 December 2011. Plate: 14365; Type: Taxi; Month Day Year: Feb 06, 2012; Registration: 07D12245; Owner: Tillingdale Limited
32. National Transport Authority. "Transport for Ireland - Check License". Retrieved 3 December 2020. Licence Number: T14365 Licence Type: Taxi Licence Status: Active Licence Expiry Date: 11/03/2021 Vehicle Registration No.: 201D19026 Name of Licence Holder: TILLINGDALE UNLIMITED COMPANY