Born: 27 March 1907, United States
Died: 2 December 1998
Country most active: Ireland
Also known as: Mary Horstmann
This biography is republished from The Dictionary of Irish Biography and was written by Deirdre Bryan. Shared by permission in line with Creative Commons ‘Attribution’ (CC BY) licencing.
McShain, Mary (1907–98), landowner and benefactor, was born Mary Horstmann on 27 March 1907 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, fifth among six children of Ignatius J. Horstmann and his wife Pauline. She was educated at St Leonard’s Academy, Philadelphia, and Rosemont College, Rosemont, PA, in suburban Philadelphia. She married (1927) John McShain, who became the third largest building contractor in the US and worked on the reconstruction of the White House and the building of the Jefferson memorial, the Pentagon, and the JFK Centre for the Performing Arts, all in Washington, DC. The McShains had an interest in horse-breeding and racing, and in 1952 established a stable of racehorses in the US, which they expanded to Ireland in 1955 and hired first Vincent O’Brien as trainer, and later John Oxx. They had particular success with the great Ballymoss, who won the Irish Derby and the English St Leger in 1957, and the Prix de L’Arc de Triomphe, the King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes, the Eclipse Stakes, and the Coronation Cup in 1958.
In 1960 the McShains moved to Ireland and purchased Killarney House, Co. Kerry, and a large part of the Kenmare estate, which had been owned by the earls of Kenmare since the sixteenth century. They made a gift to the state of Inisfallen Island and the ruins of the abbey in 1973, and gave guardianship to the state of Ross Island and its castle. In 1979 they turned the entire estate over to the government for a nominal fee, with the stipulations that they would retain a life tenancy of the house and some acreage, and that the lands be incorporated into the Killarney national park in perpetuity.
McShain was a Lady of the Grand Cross of the Holy Sepulchre and a Dame of Malta. In 1976 she was the recipient of the Pro Ecclesia et Pontifice Cross, the highest honour the Vatican may bestow on a laywoman. In 1977 she was awarded two honorary doctorates, one from her alma mater, Rosemont College, and one from LaSalle University, Philadelphia. McShain died 2 December 1998, aged 91, at Killarney House, and on 6 December her body was flown to Philadelphia, where it was buried alongside that of her husband (d. 1989) in Holy Cross cemetery, Philadelphia. She was survived by her only child, Pauline, a sister of the Society of the Holy Child Jesus.