Irish woman leaves €5.5m to Edinburgh festival

An Irish woman who travelled every year to one of the world's most renowned arts events has stunned organisers by leaving them…

An Irish woman who travelled every year to one of the world's most renowned arts events has stunned organisers by leaving them £3.7 million (€5.5 million).

Lean Scully, who died last year aged 72, had been a regular for the last decade at classical concerts staged by the Edinburgh International Festival (EIF).

Ms Scully, who gave £45 a year to the EIF while alive, cheerfully promised staff she would "see you right when I'm gone".

But they did not expect the mammoth €5.5 million bequest - the biggest single gift in the festival's 60-year history.

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The legacy was from the sale of two homes next to one another in Dublin owned

by Ms Scully, who worked in agricultural public relations.

The money will be invested, as she intended, in a trust that will yield £150,000 a year in interest for promoting the careers of young artists.

Sir Brian McMaster, director of the EIF, which opens tomorrow, told the Scottish Press Association: "This is the type of bequest arts organisations dream about.

"Lean's been a regular visitor to the festival for the last 10 years. She was very passionate about the arts.

"She left us the residue of her estate, after gifts to friends, which is two Dublin homes.

"Of course, property values in Dublin have rocketed over the past few years so the homes were worth quite a lot of money."