WHEN Financier Allan P. Kirby in 1961 lost control of Alleghany Corp., a huge holding company that controls a $6.5 billion rail and financial empire, those who did not know him well thought that he might retire to his 27-room mansion and clip coupons. After all, Kirby, now 71, was already worth at least $250 million through major holdings in Woolworth, I.T. & T., Phillips Petroleum, Manufacturers Hanover Trust and the New York Central Railroad. But Kirby is as stubborn as he is rich. He began a battle to regain control of Alleghany from the men who had wrested it from him, Texas Millionaire Brothers John Murchison, 41, and Clint Jr., 39.

Last week, after a long battle in which he finally outmaneuvered the oil-rich Texans and outmoneyed them by plunking down $10,670,000 to achieve outright control of Alleghany, Allan Kirby officially resumed his role as chairman and chief executive. Back in as president went Kirby's longtime ally, Charles T. Ireland Jr., 42. "I suppose all of them believed they could just sit down and get me to back down," says Kirby of his opponents. His only regret is that the victory took so long: "I wouldn't have minded the time so much had I been younger."

Gracious and unpretentious under his formidably brusque exterior, Kirby lives on 64 acres in Morristown, N.J., owns three other homes around the U.S. and a fishing lodge on the Gaspe Peninsula. His art collection is one of the coun try's best, includes Rembrandt, Gainsborough, Reynolds and Gilbert Stuart. But Kirby's greatest interest is in watching over his huge fortune, a job he has done so well that it has more than quintupled since he received his legacy from his wealthy father.

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