The High Court dismissed Patrick and Terri McCoy’s claim over a disputed strip of land beside Redan House in Dalkey, finding that the property boundary ran from a roadside pier to the top of the cliff.
The McCoys sought a declaration that they owned the disputed area, damages for trespass and nuisance, an injunction against further works and restoration of the natural cliff face. They said the defendants’ rock removal began in April 2007 and weakened the cliff and Redan House. They also claimed possessory title through occupation since 1952.
Michael McGill and Timothy Roe, who owned the adjoining property, disputed the boundary and said the land belonged to them. They acknowledged removing loose rock under planning permission, but denied trespass and damage.
The court focused on the parties’ competing interpretations of a 1910 deed of assignment and its map. The judge also considered the McCoys’ 1873 lease, earlier title documents, physical features and expert evidence. He found the lease placed the McCoys’ western boundary at the top of the rocks. He considered it highly probable that the pier present when the works began was the same pier shown on the 1910 map.
The judge concluded that the defendants’ eastern boundary ran from that pier to a point 60 feet away at the top of the cliff. He said surveyor Thomas Mulreid’s analysis and measurements supported that boundary. The court rejected the possessory-title claim, noting that no evidence had been produced to support it and that a special condition in the McCoys’ purchase contract warned of uncertainty about Redan House’s western boundary.
The judge also dismissed the damage claim because no supporting evidence was produced. He made no finding on the defendants’ earlier overnight parking of a rock breaker on the McCoys’ property: the defendants had accepted that it happened, apologised and offered to remedy any damage, and the issue was not pursued in the proceedings.
The court dismissed the McCoys’ claim. The judgment does not set out a separate order requiring restoration, awarding damages or granting an injunction.