The High Court has ruled that Peter Murphy inherited the entirety of his late uncle William Doyle’s farm in Co Carlow, resolving a dispute over whether two separate parcels of land instead fell into the residue of the estate.
Doyle, a 77-year-old bachelor farmer who died in November 2019, left his “dwelling house, farm buildings and lands at Belalaw, Myshall” together with farm machinery, livestock and entitlements to Murphy, his nephew.
The estate included land at Bealalaw, where the farmhouse and farmyard were located, as well as separate parcels in the townlands of Myshall and Raheenleigh. Other relatives argued that the wording of the will gave Murphy only the Bealalaw lands, leaving the other parcels to the residuary beneficiaries.
In an earlier judgment, Ms Justice Emily Egan found the wording ambiguous and permitted extrinsic evidence about Doyle’s intentions.
The most significant evidence came from solicitor William Clarke, who drafted Doyle’s July 2019 will. Clarke had prepared a memorandum shortly after Doyle’s death recording that Doyle told him the only change he wanted from his earlier will was to alter who would receive the residue of his estate. Doyle still wanted his house, lands, livestock and entitlements to go to Murphy.
Clarke also said Doyle told him all his farmland was at Bealalaw. Clarke had not been able to locate Doyle’s earlier 1998 will when drafting the new one and was unaware that parts of the farm lay in separately named townlands.
The court accepted Clarke’s evidence as admissible and highly persuasive evidence of Doyle’s intention.
It also considered evidence that Murphy had helped farm the lands for decades and that the separate parcels were operated together as one farm.
The judge concluded that the phrase “lands at Belalaw, Myshall” in the will included every parcel contained in the relevant land registry folio. Murphy therefore takes the entire farm under clause 2 of the will.