The Supreme Court has dismissed Dennis Dunne’s appeal over a three-acre field beside Clondalkin Railway Station, finding that he did not establish the uninterrupted, exclusive possession needed to acquire it through adverse possession. The court’s judgment was delivered by Mr Justice Peter Charleton on 28 July 2016 and concurred with a judgment by Ms Justice Laffoy.
Dunne claimed he had possessed the field from 1977 to 2007, using it for horses and other animals and putting up stabling and sheds. Irish Rail and Córas Iompair Éireann (CIÉ), the defendants, claimed ownership and counterclaimed to protect their rights. The High Court rejected Dunne’s claim and upheld CIÉ’s counterclaim in 2007. On appeal, Dunne argued that the trial judge had misconstrued the evidence of his use of the land.
The Supreme Court said the appeal was not an opportunity to reweigh the evidence. It found no error of law and concluded that the High Court’s factual findings were supported by evidence. The court also held that the evidence established CIÉ’s title, tracing it to land acquired by its railway predecessor in the 1840s. It therefore found no need to decide whether a corporation could acquire title through adverse possession.
The court said the first 16 years of Dunne’s claimed occupation were sporadic and not exclusive. Other people brought horses onto the field, local children used it, and informal paths crossed it as a shortcut to the station. A caretaker associated with CIÉ also entered the land. The Supreme Court said the evidence did not show that Dunne controlled the whole field or a defined part of it.
The court also pointed to CIÉ’s work during the station renovation from 1993 to 1995, including taking part of the field for the platform and installing fencing. In 2001, CIÉ employees repaired fencing after a neighbouring landowner complained about horses and inadequate fencing. These acts were sufficient assertions of the paper owner’s rights to interrupt any period of adverse possession that might otherwise have been running, the court said.
The judgment concluded that Dunne had not used and occupied the field for an uninterrupted 12-year period in a way that displaced CIÉ’s title. It dismissed the appeal, leaving in place the High Court’s rejection of Dunne’s claim and its ruling for CIÉ on the counterclaim.