The High Court rejected Shelbourne Development Limited’s claim that it had acquired the former site of 30 Moore Street, Dublin, by adverse possession. The court found that the site’s use as part of a car park did not displace the title of Keelgrove Properties Limited’s predecessor, A. Brazil Limited.
Mr Justice Gilligan delivered judgment on 8 July 2005 in proceedings begun by plenary summons on 30 May 2003. Shelbourne argued that it and its predecessors had possessed the land continuously and without disturbance for more than 12 years, and that the limitation period had extinguished Keelgrove’s title. It sought a declaration that it owned the land and that Keelgrove had no interest in it.
The disputed plot was where 30 Moore Street had stood, at the junction of Moore Street and Parnell Street. The building was demolished by Dublin Corporation around 1986. Daniel Sullivan then used the levelled site for car parking, alongside other nearby plots. The judgment records that he paid no rent, but paid rates and public liability insurance. He had a gate key and operated the parking until 1997, when he sold his interest in the rear of 59 Parnell Street to Shelbourne and left the area.
The judge found that Sullivan had asked Brazil’s permission to use the site. In a letter dated 8 June 1989, Sullivan acknowledged that he had no claim over Brazil’s property at 30 Moore Street. The judgment also describes meetings from 1989 to 1997 at which neighbouring owners discussed selling their properties together. Sullivan accepted that Brazil was to receive the proceeds for No. 30 and that he had no right or title to the ground.
After Sullivan left, Kekerberry Limited managed Shelbourne’s car park. Its operator, Frank Kinsella, said he had the keys. The court noted that Keelgrove’s representative had asked for a trailer to be moved from the plot in 1997, and that Kinsella complied. The plot was also cordoned off on some occasions at Shelbourne’s direction.
The judge concluded that Sullivan’s use was permissive, not adverse, and that there was no adverse possession from June 1989 until 1997. He was also not satisfied that Kekerberry’s management of the car park established adverse possession between 1997 and the start of proceedings; its involvement lasted about six years, and the evidence did not show occupation that would make an owner aware that their title was being challenged.
The court did not specify the final order in this judgment. It said it would hear counsel’s submissions on the form of the order.