Legal action has been begun in the High Court by the father of a previous Rose of Tralee contestant against the body responsible for the festival’s organisation. The claimant, Richard Henggeler, is a key investor in Kerry Rose Festival Ltd and it is believed that his claims, presented on Tuesday at the High Court, are purposed at reclaiming a supposed loan he provided to the company.
Henggeler, who has a stake of 31.1% in Kerry Rose Festival Ltd, is being represented by solicitors Cadogan O’Regan LLP, based in Tralee. The legal firm could only divulge that proceedings are under way but details were unable to be disclosed currently. The most recent financial documents from the company exhibit loans from shareholders were at €96,414 up to March 31st, 2022.
Richard Henggeler is the parent of the 2011 participant from Washington DC, Dorothy Moriarty Henggeler, who tragically passed away from a brain haemorrhage just ahead of her 28th birthday. Dorothy’s body was returned to Ireland for a burial in her mother’s birthplace, Killarney, by her grieving parents, Richard and Eibhlin.
Dorothy, also known as ‘Dott’, was a communications co-ordinator for T Rowe Price during the festival in 2011, after completing a degree in communications at Virginia Tech university. Her career included a role at Tourism Ireland in the city of New York. A commemorative stone was erected in Tralee for Dorothy in 2015, named ‘A Rose Walk’.
That same year, The Henggeler family, frequent tourists of Ireland, acquired the Fels Point hotel in Tralee, boasting 165 rooms. The estate was sold by the National Asset Management Agency for an undisclosed figure, with a recommended price of €4 million. After a thorough renovation and expansion plan, the property was redubbed The Rose Hotel, incorporating Dott’s Bar, as a touching tribute to the Henggeler’s late daughter.
Mr Henggeler, in the final months of 2011, sold his own venture, Henggeler Computer Consultants, to cybersecurity powerhouse Raytheon for an undisclosed figure.