The High Court has affirmed a Circuit Court order declaring John Shannon the owner of a family farm and house in County Sligo, and requiring his sisters Elizabeth and Gwendoline Shannon to leave and not re-enter the property.
The appeal arose from possession proceedings brought by Mr Shannon in the Circuit Court. Fergus J. had made the ownership and possession orders. In a judgment delivered on 14 May 2024, Mr Justice Twomey rejected the sisters’ appeal and said he would affirm that order.
The sisters continued to claim ownership, including through adverse possession. The High Court held that this defence could not succeed: Mr Shannon issued the present proceedings on 31 July 2018, less than 12 years after the sisters acknowledged an attempt to evict them on 31 August 2006. The court also cited evidence that Mr Shannon walked the property every few days and kept cattle there. It concluded their occupation did not amount to his dispossession or abandonment of the property.
The judgment said the sisters’ other arguments, including a claim that their mother’s will had been procured by undue influence, had been rejected in earlier proceedings. It did not revisit each of those issues in detail. The judgment recounted a series of previous cases, including an Isaac Wunder order restricting Elizabeth Shannon from bringing further proceedings against her brother concerning the property.
Mr Shannon had registered ownership of the property, which the judgment said had been left to him by his mother. The sisters continued to reside there without his permission. The court noted that they had returned after being removed in 2006 under an earlier possession order. Mr Shannon said he was seeking a further order to make clear that their continued occupation did not mean he had abandoned possession or allowed them to acquire title by adverse possession. He did not propose to seek execution of the order.
Beyond the property dispute, the judgment criticised the cost of bringing relatively minor disputes in the High Court. It said the sisters’ long-running litigation had caused Mr Shannon substantial expense, while noting that the court had no control over legislation governing court jurisdictions or legal costs. The judge urged consideration of a greater proportion of lower-cost courts, while recognising that reform of court structures was for the Oireachtas.