O'Siodhachain & Anor v. O'Mahony & Anor

This sorry saga has its origins in the desire of the defendants to sell all or portion of farmlands jointly owned by them and comprising about 70 acres at Ballybeg, Co. Kerry. The farm contains a dwelling house, a number of outhouses and sheds, various fields and is also in part bog land. The events giving rise to the present dispute between the parties arose following an unsuccessful public auction to sell the farm which took place on the 14th day of August 1998.

Following their marriage, the defendants had initially lived in the O'Mahony farmhouse at Ballybeg, but in 1992 moved to the nearby village of Gneeveguilla, where, up to and including the time of the auction, they lived in what had formerly been Geraldine O'Mahony's family home, which in addition had a small grocery shop and a number of petrol pumps.

Sean O'Mahony had been involved in a road traffic accident in 1983, following which he found it difficult to carry out farming work on the farm at Ballybeg. He also had some visual disability. In 1998, he and his wife were keen to sell off the farm and to move out of the area altogether. It was their intention at the time to place the proceeds of sale of the farm in an investment property in Dublin.

Apart from his paralegal and litigation activities, the first named plaintiff is a political activist and author and producer of cultural and other works. He is a well known figure in the Kerry area.

In August 1998, the plaintiffs were living in rented accommodation in Scartaglen, Co. Kerry, a property which they had to vacate by April of the following year. Mrs. Herron was also the owner of a terraced house at Sunday's Well in Cork, which had been vacant for a number of years and which was owned subject to a mortgage in favour of Cork Corporation. There are also other burdens affecting this property to which I shall later refer.