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A widow who was left two-thirds of a 60ac piece of land in Castletown, Co Wexford, will be able to purchase the remaining third, following a three-year dispute involving the Catholic Archdiocese of Dublin.
Mrs Margaret (Peggy) O’Hanlon is the owner of lands which she inherited from her husband.
Her husband Charlie was one of three brothers and one sister. When Louis O’Hanlon died, each of his siblings received a third of his farm. Dora left her share to Peggy’s husband Charlie, leaving him with two thirds, which he farmed for almost 40 years. They passed to Peggy when her husband died in 2012.
The remaining third belonged to David, who died in 2017. With the exception of some small sums as gifts for a number of people, he left his entire estate to the Church.
Before Wicklow Circuit Court on Wednesday, were Mrs O’Hanlon and the executor of Mr David O’Hanlon’s estate, John Kinsella.
The parties settled the matter, with half of the plaintiff’s costs awarded against Mrs O’Hanlon.
Partition
Judge Patrick Quinn said at the outset that he had read the papers and it appeared that the case was a question of whether to partition the land, and the beneficiary the Catholic Church would receive one third and Mrs O’Hanlon two-thirds, or sell the land in its entirety, and divide the proceeds in the same way.
Mrs O’Hanlon had previously made an offer to purchase one-third of the 60ac but that sale did not occur.
"Can you not get together and sort this out?" said Judge Quinn. He remarked that if he partitioned the land, the Church could sell their third.
I doubt they want to cause upset in a family situation
Barrister Jack Hickey said that there had been an offer of sale made to his client Mrs O'Hanlon, with 21 days given for response.
"Another letter then raised the issue of additional lands, which aren’t disputed," said Mr Hickey.
Barrister for the plaintiff James Peart said that the matter had been ongoing for around three years.
Windfall
"It’s a windfall for the Church,"said Judge Quinn. "If it was another brother it might be different," he said. "I doubt they want to cause upset in a family situation."
The court heard from Mr Hickey that Mrs O’Hanlon was prepared to pay the sum of the probate valuation and no more.
Judge Quinn was told that valuation was originally €390,000, a later valuation was for as much as €615,000, then brought back to €460,000.
The estate included another piece of land of approximately eight acres which is not disputed, and is valued at around €90,000, with an equal split between Mrs O’Hanlon and the archdiocese.
Judge Quinn recommended "a bit of good will all round".
"There is fault and advantage on both sides," he said. He took some case law from Mr Peart to consider and the parties continued to negotiate while the judge rose.
Mr Peart then told the judge that the offer of €130,000 was acceptable to all parties.
Judge Quinn heard that Mrs O’Hanlon required time to raise the monies, and he also considered costs.
Response
Mr Peart said that there had been no response to the offer to sell, which was made in 2018 for €130,000. He said that the response should have been made within 21 days.
Mr Hickey said that the matter of the second plot of land had disrupted focus, and by the time his client was able to turn her attention back to the matter at hand, the price had gone up.
Mr Hickey said that the plaintiff had refused to enter mediation.
Mr Peart said that they had asked what the points to discuss at mediation would be. He said that was a "red herring" as there had been a day-long settlement meeting in January, which was unsuccessful.
Judge Quinn said that, assuming the separate eigh-acre site would fetch €90,000, Mrs O’Hanlon could use €45,000 from that.
He gave until 1 November for the balance of €85,000 to be paid, and added an extra €10,000 towards plaintiff costs of €20,000.
In the event of an appeal, Mrs O’Hanlon must lodge €10,000 with the court
In the event that the sale of the other piece of land falls short, the shortfall must be made up by Mrs O’Hanlon. In the event that it is sold for more, that sum will go towards the plaintiff's costs.
Mr Hickey asked for a stay on the order for costs, which Judge Quinn granted. In the event of an appeal, Mrs O’Hanlon must lodge €10,000 with the court.
The agreement having been reached by consent, Judge Quinn said that any appeal must be confined to costs only.
"I’m striking the claim and counter-claim on that basis," he said.
A spokesman for Mrs O’Hanlon said afterwards that they felt they had been brought to court in an attempt to force her to sell land that she believed she was entitled to against her will.
On the point of costs, he said, they feel they didn’t get justice and intend to appeal.
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