NORTHERN Ireland golf star Rory McIlroy is among the most generous celebrities giving away £1 million of his wealth in the past year.
The Holywood-born golfer is named in eighth spot in the Sunday Times Giving List for celebrities, which was topped by singer Elton John who donated £26.8m in the year.
McIlroy's donations included £780,000 to his personal foundation while he also pledged £250,000 to Mencap.
The Rory Foundation was set up by McIlroy with the aim of bettering the lives of vulnerable children.
It has supported the setting up of a short break centre in Newcastle, Co Down for children with cancer.
Sir Elton's charitable giving was mainly to his Aids foundations in Britain and America.
Harry Potter author Rowling emerged as the second most generous celebrity, with £10.3 million generated and donated by her charities.
The giving list is ranked by the proportion of wealth given away in the past year.
Also on the list, former footballer David Beckham raised £5m and former Ryder Cup captain Colin Montgomerie's foundation in memory of his mother raised £4.5m for cancer care centres.
Almost a fifth of the 1,000 people to be named in next week's Sunday Times Rich List have donated at least £1 million to charity in the past year, adding up to £2.66 billion in donations.
The Sainsbury family topped the overall giving list for the third consecutive year. They gave away £220m through a network of 18 trusts.
More than 30 billionaires feature in the top 200 givers, with Alisher Usmanov, the second-largest shareholder in Arsenal, giving more than £100m.
1 Sir Elton John £26.8m
2 JK Rowling £10.3m
3 David Beckham £ 5m
4 Martin Lewis £2.5m
5 Coldplay £1.7m
6 Ringo Star £1.6m
7 Jamie Oliver £1.4m
8 Rory McIlroy £1m
9 Colin Montgomerie£0.9m
10 One Direction £0.8m
10 Brian May/Roger Taylor £0.8m
