{"id":621499,"date":"2026-09-11T14:50:22","date_gmt":"2026-09-11T14:50:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/621499\/"},"modified":"2026-09-11T14:50:22","modified_gmt":"2026-09-11T14:50:22","slug":"who-is-michael-olearys-elegant-wife-anita-farrell","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/621499\/","title":{"rendered":"Who is Michael O’Leary’s elegant wife Anita Farrell?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Anita Farrell has been by her husband, Michael O’Leary’s, side through thick and thin for over two decades.<\/p>\n

The Ryanair boss<\/a> fell head over heels for his now-wife, who is 12 years his junior, when they first laid eyes on each other at Shane Ryan’s wedding to Lorraine Kinsella in the early noughties in Tipperary, where she was a bridesmaid.<\/p>\n

The couple went on to tie the knot in a lavish ceremony in 2003, and they share four children. Here’s everything we know about their family life.<\/p>\n

Who is Anita Farrell?<\/p>\n

\"MichaelMichael O’Leary of Ryanair, owner with his wife Anita, after his horse, Farclas, had won The JCB Triumph Hurdle Race. Pic: Shutterstock<\/p>\n

Though her husband is consistent in making headlines, Anita prefers to keep a low profile.<\/p>\n

The 52-year-old beauty hails from Blackrock and attended Mount Anville Secondary School in Mount Merrion, where she excelled and was one of the smartest in her class. She then went on to study business at UCD.<\/p>\n

Anita met her husband-to-be when she served as a bridesmaid for her friend Lorraine at her wedding to the son of the founder of Ryanair, Shane Ryan. Lorraine and Anita’s friendship dates back to their days in Mount Anville.<\/p>\n

\"OwnerOwner Michael O’Leary celebrates with wife Anita Farrell after winning the Ryanair Steeple Chase during St Patrick’s Thursday of the 2018 Cheltenham Festival at Cheltenham Racecourse. Pic: Mike Egerton\/PA Wire<\/p>\n

Formerly a Citibank executive, Anita was swept off her feet by Michael, and it’s been reported that they dated for around a year before he proposed to her on her birthday with a ‘\u20ac30,000 marquis diamond ring’.<\/p>\n

The couple went on to tie the knot on September 6, 2003, in his native Co Westmeath. They share three sons, Matt, Luke, and Zac, all of whom attend a prestigious boarding school in Kildare, and a daughter, Tianna.<\/p>\n

The wedding<\/p>\n

\"ANITAAnita Farrell and Michael O’Leary at church near Delvin, Co Westmeath after their wedding. Pic: Colin Keegan\/Collins Dublin<\/p>\n

When Michael and Anita wed in September 2003, the word on the street was that the groom had planned the entire affair.<\/p>\n

However, journalists spotted vans for the company Ovation, which advertised ‘Conference Management, Destination Management, Event Management’, parked across the street on the day.<\/p>\n

Per the Irish Independent<\/a>, Michael arrived at the venue ten minutes early, and when he came out for air, he shouted down to journalists: ‘I’m terrified. I’ve never been more nervous in my life.’<\/p>\n

He also joked that his bride-to-be, Anita, was late because she was flying Aer Lingus. And late she was, as after 37 minutes of standing around, journalists spotted a Bentley pull up as the bride made her grand entrance.<\/p>\n

\"ANITAAnita Farrell and Michael O’Leary at church near Delvin, Co Westmeath after their wedding. Pic: Colin Keegan\/Collins Dublin<\/p>\n

‘Anita’s blonde hair was studded with white rose buds, matching the groom’s buttonhole and her bouquet of roses and pink-tinged white Anthurium,’ it was reported. The bride wore an understated Vera Wang number.<\/p>\n

Among family and friends, there were a few well-known faces in attendance, including JP McManus and his wife, Noreen, Mary Harney, and Charlie McCreevy.<\/p>\n

The wedding party celebrated at the O’Leary’s Gigginstown House, where three marquees had been erected for dancing and dining.<\/p>\n

\"ANITAAnita Farrell and Michael O’Leary at church near Delvin, Co Westmeath after their wedding. Pic: Colin Keegan\/Collins Dublin<\/p>\n

One guest said of the groom’s speech: ‘It was most unlike Michael; he didn’t speak business, he spoke about himself and his feelings for Anita, how much he loves her.<\/p>\n

‘It was nothing more than a simple country wedding, done on a grand scale – we all had a ball!’<\/p>\n

Gigginstown House<\/p>\n

\"TheThe Gigginstown Stud has produced a number of winners of major races. Pic: Michael Chester<\/p>\n

Michael, Anita, and their children live in Gigginstown House near Delvin in Co Westmeath.<\/p>\n

The Ryanair boss breeds Aberdeen Angus cattle and horses at his Gigginstown House Stud. His horses have won races, including the Cheltenham Gold Cup, and the 2016, 2018, and 2019 Grand Nationals.<\/p>\n

It’s understood that his children are involved in the daily farm and racing life at the sprawling 1,000-acre estate.<\/p>\n

Family time<\/p>\n

\"OwnersOwners Michael and Anita O’Leary celebrate after sending out Balko Des Flos to win the Ryanair Steeple Chase on Y on Day Three of the Cheltenham Racing Festival at Prestbury Park in Cheltenham, England. Pic: Seb Daly\/Sportsfile<\/p>\n

In an interview with the Daily Telegraph in 2014, Michael told of how the family’s two-week summer holiday to the Algarve was spent ‘trying not to murder’ them.<\/p>\n

‘All I can look for is peace and quiet – which is a forlorn hope,’ he told the publication. ‘I’ll try to run the children off their feet and hope they’re so exhausted by about five or six o’clock that I can put them to bed.<\/p>\n

‘Then I grab some dinner with Mrs O’Leary, and it all starts again the following day. I come back to work for a rest.’<\/p>\n

\"WinningMichael O’Leary and Anita Farrell. Pic: Barry Cregg \/SPORTSFILE<\/p>\n

In May 2019, Michael announced\u00a0his plans to phase out his Gigginstown House racing team over the course of five years to spend more time with his family.<\/p>\n

He said: ‘As my children are growing into teenagers, I am spending more and more of my time at their activities and I have less and less time for National Hunt racing, a situation that will continue for the foreseeable future.’<\/p>\n

\"OwnersWinners Michael O’Leary, behind, and wife Anita are presented with the winning trophy by former trainer Martin Pipe. Pic: Seb Daly\/Sportsfile<\/p>\n

These days, Anita runs the family home and supports Michael in his business and racing endeavors. She is low key and understated, and often the smartest in the room.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Anita Farrell has been by her husband, Michael O’Leary’s, side through thick and thin for over two decades.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":621500,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[72,61,60],"class_list":["post-621499","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-business","tag-business","tag-ie","tag-ireland"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/621499","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=621499"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/621499\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/621500"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=621499"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=621499"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=621499"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}