McGrath, Patrick William (Paddy) (1927–2001), businessman, was born 12 February 1927 in Dublin, fourth child and youngest son among three sons and three daughters of Joseph (Joe) McGrath (qv), politician, businessman and race-horse owner, and his wife Eileen (née Downes). In 1930 his father became managing director of Irish Hospitals’ Trust, established to run the Irish hospitals’ sweepstake and as a result the family became extremely rich, although Paddy McGrath later claimed that most of their wealth stemmed from land purchases in the 1940s. He grew up in Cabinteely House, Dublin, purchased by his father in 1933, and was educated in Dublin at Willow Park and Blackrock College, which he found too big, moving to St Gerard's school, near Bray, Co. Wicklow, where he remained for three years. Admitting that he ‘was not the greatest student that you ever came across’ and was always in trouble at school (Kenny, p. 80), he had a gift for mathematics. In 1943, after a prolonged stay in hospital with rheumatic fever, he left school to work in the Irish Glass Bottle Company, which was part-owned by his father. After three years he moved to work in the Irish hospitals’ sweepstake, where he was initially put in charge of the 3,000 women who worked there. He preferred female to male employees, believing women to be more dependable and thorough than men. In similar vein, when sending businessmen on trips he insisted that their wives travel with them, as ‘otherwise they could end up in trouble’ (Kenny, p. 87).
Groomed as his father's business heir, he became a director of the Irish Glass Bottle Company (1950), Waterford Glass (1952) and Irish Hospitals’ Trust (1940) Ltd. (1952) and following his father's death in 1966 succeeded him as chairman of these companies. He presided over the decline of the hospital sweepstakes in the 1970s and 1980s as the legalisation of state lotteries in north America deprived it of its most important market. A prolonged postal strike in Ireland in 1979 also had a detrimental effect on its activities, and it eventually closed in 1987 having failed in 1985 to win the franchise to operate the new national lottery. When the sweep closed McGrath was criticised for making minimal redundancy payments to its employees, who were later to receive compensation from the Irish government in 2000. In spite of the sweep's declining activities, he was considered to be among the richest men in Europe in the 1970s.
The decline of the sweep coincided with the financial difficulties encountered by Avenue Investments, a trust company established for the families of the three sweepstake promoters, the McGraths, Duggans and Freemans, 60 per cent of which belonged to the McGraths. By the early 1980s Avenue's portfolio was worth an estimated £30 million and included some of the most prominent companies in Ireland, including Hibernian Insurance, the Irish Glass Bottle Co., R. J. Goff and Fannin Holdings, but the most important stock held was the 60 per cent share of Waterford Glass. Under Paddy McGrath's chairmanship, Waterford had become a world-famous brand in the 1960s and 1970s, and was expanded by the acquisition of Aynsley China in 1970 and 60 per cent of Switzers in 1971. In 1980 Avenue began a significant divestment programme, starting with reducing its Waterford share to 20.16 per cent through the sale of 10 million shares for £3 million in 1980, followed by the off-loading of Fannin (1981) and Hibernian (1982), and the controversial sale of its 42 per cent share in Memory Computer for £1.45 million in 1982, just months before a stock market flotation valued it at £16.5 million. While Avenue profited from all of these transactions, its less profitable holdings were in trouble: in 1983 Waltham Holdings went into receivership; Avair, an independent airline in which it held a 26 per cent stake, collapsed; and the Irish Glass Bottle Company was in decline. Waterford was also in trouble, with large debts and borrowings. The financial difficulties of Avenue, combined with the economic recession, and the growing financial demands of the increasing number of descendants of the three families led to the sale of Waterford Glass to Globe Holdings in August 1984 for £17 million, a figure well-below pre-sale estimates of the company's value.
McGrath also inherited many of his father's horse-racing interests. He was chairman of the Racing Board from the 1960s until the 1980s, during which time he secured the future of Leopardstown racecourse, organising its purchase by the Racing Board, serving as chairman and later honorary life president of the course. He was also chairman (1975–87) and life president of the bloodstock sales group, R. J. Goff, and oversaw its move from the RDS to Co. Kildare. Much less prominent as an owner than his father had been, he enjoyed modest success in the 1970s, winning the Irish St Leger with ‘Allangrange’ (1970), the Irish Sweeps Derby with ‘Weaver's Hall’ (1973), trained by his brother Séamus, and the Irish 2,000 Guineas with ‘Furry Glen’ (1974).
In the 1980s McGrath was ‘reputed to hold more directorships than any other businessman in the state’ (Ir. Press, 21 Aug. 1984). Among the other positions he held were membership of the Irish National Hunt Steeplechase Committee; president of Waterford Glass (from 1985); director of Catholic Herald Ltd (from 1974) and the Irish Catholic (from 1980), Bank of Ireland (1967–83), Investment Bank of Ireland (1966–80), and Mercier Press. From 1973 until 1977 he was a member of Seanad Éireann, nominated by the taoiseach, Liam Cosgrave. He was made a Knight Commander of the Order of St Gregory the Great by the pope, received an honorary LLD from the National University of Ireland (1984), and was a freeman of the city of Waterford and a patron of the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland.
In July 1988 McGrath and his brothers were successful in a supreme court appeal against a demand for capital gains tax made against them by the revenue commissioners in connection with the sale of an estate. The McGraths had availed themselves of a loop-hole in the Irish taxation code, participating in a tax avoidance scheme which allowed them create ‘paper’ losses of £1 million to offset against their tax liability.
He married Anna Burke, a physical education teacher, daughter of Michael Burke, North Circular Road, Dublin on 31 January 1951; they had four sons and one daughter and lived at Brennanstown Road, Cabinteely. He gradually retired from his business interests in the late 1980s. He died 9 October 2001 at St Vincent's private hospital, where he had been ill for some time.