The Circuit Court in Limerick has upheld Conor O’Donnell’s contested will, finding that his three sisters did not prove it was forged or otherwise invalid. Judge Brian O’Callaghan dismissed their counterclaim and declared that the will should be admitted to probate. He proposed making no order as to costs, while leaving counsel an opportunity to address that question.
O’Donnell, a farmer who died at his home in Ballyea, County Limerick, on 19 April 2014, was survived by three sisters, a brother and six children of a predeceased sister. The will, dated 18 May 2012, named Josie Ahern and John Chawke as executors. The sisters lodged a caveat against probate and later challenged the will, alleging it had not been properly executed, that O’Donnell did not know or approve its contents, and that his signature was forged.
The plaintiffs said O’Donnell completed the will at Ahern’s home with help from Mary Mullane, who filled in a purchased will form using his written instructions. Ahern and Mullane testified that O’Donnell signed and printed his name in their presence, and that they then signed as witnesses. The court described their evidence as clear, consistent and given independently. It rejected the claim that O’Donnell had not known or approved the contents, finding no evidence to support it.
The defendants relied on evidence from three handwriting experts who concluded that O’Donnell had not written the disputed signature. The judge identified limitations in their analyses, including differences in the specimen signatures and the absence of comparisons with relevant diary writing. He said the expert evidence raised doubt but was not sufficiently compelling to prove forgery on the balance of probabilities, particularly given the gravity of the allegation and the evidence of the two attesting witnesses.
The court held that the will’s attestation clause was valid despite its failure to delete the printed letters “rix”. It therefore benefited from the presumption of due execution. The judge also said that, even if the presumption did not apply, he accepted the witnesses’ evidence that O’Donnell signed the will himself in accordance with section 78 of the Succession Act 1965.
The court dismissed the sisters’ counterclaim and granted the declaration and probate order sought by the plaintiffs. The judgment did not determine costs; the judge proposed no order unless counsel wished to make further submissions.