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THE OWNERS OF Lissadell House in Co Sligo have won a long-running court battle regarding public right-of-way across their lands.
Barristers Edward Walsh and Constance Cassidy launched an appeal to the Supreme Court after is was ruled in the High Court that public access was permitted on four routes in the estate.
In a 118-page judgement handed down this morning, the five-judge court set aside the earlier ruling regarding four routes.
The court decided that a small section of the land near the coast can be accessed by the public. However, no car-parking will be allowed as the dedication of the area for right-of-way access was made in the mid-1800s.
The legal proceedings have been ongoing for years, and costs are estimated to be in the region of €7 million euro.
Sligo County Council had argued that right-of-way access should be allowed legally, as routes across the estate had been used by the public for decades.
However, a note from the courts service on today’s judgement states that:
In order to establish that a public right of way exists over particular land, under the common law of Ireland, it is necessary to prove that the owners of the land dedicated the way to the public and that the public accepted the dedication.
Sligo County Council failed to prove that dedication to the court, according to today’s ruling.
Built in the 1830s for the Gore-Booth family, Lissadell House was the childhood home of revolutionary Constance Markievicz. It was also a favourite holiday retreat of WB Yeats, who referenced it in one of his poems.
It was brought by its current owners for around €4.5 million in 2003. Redevelopment works were carried out in the following years, before the couple decided to cease allowing public access to the house in 2009 as the dispute with the county council got under way.
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It was incredibly short sighted of the state not to buy Lissadell when they had the chance, it was for sale at €4, now they have spent €7 defending the right of way and still have nothing to show for it. Sligo has been constantly neglected over the years. Such a pity, if the state had bought Lissadell and developed it as a museum to Markievicz and Yeats, it could have been a major draw for tourism in the area.
When you have people like the ones who pushed this by Sligo Co.Co. not resigning or being fired then Sligo has to accept that it has played a large part in its own problems.
In fairness to Sligo CoCo I would say they had no choice but to take legal action, if a public right of way is blocked or disputed then it has to go to court. Pity the same didn’t happen for the Old Head of Kinsale.
Closing off the Irish countryside to it’s people as Niamh mentioned has shamefully happened in Kinsale.
The real scandal is how a court case ends up costing 7 million euro, which the taxpayer has to pick up. The same reason barrister Miss Cassidy was able to spend 4.5 million on a house and spend several million renovating it.
If they’d taken proper legal advice before engaging in a lengthy an costly legal battle they’d be in a better position. They attempted to bully Walsh and Cassidy and they got burnt, now the tax payer picks up the tab.
The people who complained about this in the locality are ones that would complain if it was turned in to a hospice, a respite home for kids, a community centre, a museum to Yeats and Countess Markievicz . They would have complained if it was owned by a local co-operative working together, a homeless man that won the lotto, if it was owned by Bill cullen. The right of way is only a circus to them.
Legally they hadn’t a leg to stand on. Taking a case that you cannot win is not smart.
How did Sligo Co Co win the High Court case so? Hindsight is a great thing.
It is reassuring though to see the Irish people once again doffing their hats to their better landowners in big houses.
You think of this as a class issue. ??
The people that fought this wouldn’t give the proverbial steam for the working class or the locality or general populace in the area.
@emurphy you can’t tar the people of Sligo with the same brush as that as the Co. Co., bit unfair. You’re basically saying it’s partly Sligo’s fault. Not everybody in Sligo works for the council and even those that do don’t necessarily have a say at management level. This case should never have been taken. End of.
How the f##k can a court case cost €7,000,000.00 ????????
Solicitors and barristers with their closed shop rules living the high life win lose or draw in the courts and we have to pay for this shi1e.
More banana republic mentality.
Sorry, the council had an option. An attractive alternative route was presented to both the owners and the council but the council REFUSED to consider it. The council executive were reckless and incompetent. They should be sacked! They county manager has moved on just in time – to Irish water where no doubt he will be equally useless!
What a rubbish comment. The current owners have done a magnificent job of the renovations. Thank God the Government didn’t buy it. It would now be a wreck. The owners not only put their money where their mouths were, they renovated with an inhuman degree of energy and enthusiasm. All for the benefit of tourism in Sligo and for the people of Sligo to enjoy, and take pride in Lissadell. Opening it to the public was their major objective as well as creating a home for their 7 children. House, gardens teashops, workshops and multiplicable future plans for a stunning estate. What they didn’t want was cars zooming by their front door where their young children roam and play. Boy racers liked to use it as a rally venue. Lissadell was attracted in excess of 50,000 visitors a year before this debacle, and that would be increasing as the various projects came to fruition. It’s nothing to do with Irish people doffing their hats to landowners in big houses. It’s a pity there aren’t more people creating projects like this with their hard earned money. It would be of benefit to all the people of Ireland while, also educating everyone to our rich history. So, once again, an idiot and bigoted comment!
That post was directed at Soneps comment.
Common sense prevailed, Sligo Co Co bullied their way all the way to the supreme court, forgetting that one of the couple, practically wrote the book on this subject. For far too long Do gooders assumed arrogantly that they are entitled to stroll around private property. This couple spent a kings ransom renovating this historic house when no one else was prepared, not least the office of public works or Sligo CO CO. I don’t think it was too much to ask for a ittle privacy and lets not forget this couple were agreeable to one specific right away around the coast. Looks like Sligo county council are in for a lean few years ahead.
Your dead right, we go to lissadel beach a lot and walk around the roads there, it’s lovely. It’s their property and their time and money spent repairing it. They just didn’t want people walking and driving directly in front of their house, walking on their front garden. I don’t blame them at all.
Glad to see this decision for them
The people who pushed this in Sligo Council should stand down, that is what a decent, responsible person would do.
Yeah, the same county manager who received a €270,000 severance package
Constance actually wrote the book on Licensing Law. Disgrace of a case. As people on here have said, if the State forked out and bought it to begin with Sligo tourism and economy would have benefited. Now all they have is a bill for €7million (TBC) and feck all public access. Public and more particularly, the public tax payer are the real losers of this case.
I don’t think they were too worried about their garden per se. They have a large number of kids who they obviously want to keep safe in the garden. I’m really happy with the outcome.
Thank goodness the state did not buy it!
I wonder who’ll be picking up the 7million legal tab? No prizes for guessing.
Sligo county council will get the bill but they are already bankrupt so no doubt it will fall in the taxpayer again
The tax payer, in the case sligo rate payers, should refuse to pay. Sligo council is insolvent. It should be closed and liquidated. Under the leadership of its recently retired county manager, hubert Kearns, it ran up 80 million in credit buying huge tracts of land. Like any other insolvent institution its creditors should liquidate it.
Instead the people of sligo should in place a council that will serve the people. And 70 k pa is enough for any county manager. For goodness sake, Hubert Kearns, or any county manager, is not worth a salary greater than the Spanish prime minister!
Get real!
Delighted for them, excellent decision.
Solicitors making a fortune again
More money for thé légal guyes whats new Tax payers foot thé bill
I have lived in close proximity to Lissadell since 1991.
We need to look at the facts here;
- Lissadell was derelict and for sale for anybody to buy. Sligo County Council did not have the foresight or the courage to buy this local historic treasure. It was bought by people, regardless of their occupation, who restored it beautifully and attracted over 40,000 visitors during the last year it was open to the public.
- People continued to be able to access the local beach but were restricted from driving by the front door.
- Local bed and breakfasts and business flourished.
-The dry rot of begrudgery and small-mindedness gained support from local politician and a weak county council executive.
- Result: A main tourist attraction closed. Local shops and restaurants closed. Now, a possible legal bill of several millions for Sligo County Council.
Would this happen in any other county but Sligo?
This country needs people who have the courage to develop local amenities and attract visitors to rural Ireland. We do not need politicians who cannot see the bigger picture and highly paid public servants who act in the interest of one person and not the interest o the wider community. Sligo will be paying for this for a long time.
Would the county manager consider returning his lump sum?
Rights of way are important, as it is there have been attempts to limit them in parts of Wicklow. In England there is a right of way through Chequers (PM’s house) so its not exactly an alien concept unless one is a 2 generations removed Irish peasant with an ingrained “The Field” mentality.
A six million court case, sickening!
you wouldnt exactly want them as neighbours, they sound a like a miserable couple. I assume they dont have to pay the property tax…quelle suprise …taxes are only for the little people and all that.
This report does not provide proper detail. They spent a fortune on renovating the house and opened it to the public for a number of years. They only closed it when this battle over the rights of way began. Hopefully they will reopen it. The State is not going to carry out the maintenance of these houses and it is better that somebody repairs and protects them then allow them to fall into ruin as has happened so many. Irrespective of the background of the houses these are now part of our heritage and need to be protected.
A couple spent a vast chunk of their savings buying and restoring a historical Irish house; it was to be used as their home and business. They employed 11 people and were getting over 40,000 visitors a year.
Sligo County Council then imposed four rights of way for public access on the property. One of these was only a few metres away from their front door.
These people had no issue with the public accessing and enjoying the grounds, but they wanted to define the terms considering they invested and rebuilt the place. If you had invested so heavily in a project, dont you think you should be in the lead in setting the terms of where tourists and the public are allowed on your property?
Very simply put. Sligo Co Co and the OPW failed to do anything to maintain the property. Rights of access were allowed. The couple bought the property and decided to renovate and maintain. Rights of access continued. Sligo Co Co decided then to interfere which forced the couple to close the rights of way (liability, privacy and all that) until the courts had ajudicated. As someone living in Sligo, I don’t blame the couple at all. Sligo Co Co acted like bullies and were only interested in lining their own pockets and benefitting from this couple’s hard work.
If they invented the “rights of way” out of nowhere I’d agree they should have negotiated it and they should be reasonable. Personally i’d have no interest in having the right to look through someone’s window.
They saved a national treasure at their own cost and opened it to the public. Helping drive tourism and business in the locality. Who allowed the public a right of way but didn’t want one where they had to walk right past the front door and where insurance issues etc were not clarified.
A route that no one ever used then was resurrected and it was mostly down to people who never did a thing for the locality but complain and complain.
The ruling is bad news for the people who complained but good news for the 11 people who worked there and the 50k tourists that visited each year and for the vast majority of the local residents.
EMurphy – genuine question – Could you elaborate on your statement “good news for the 11 people who worked there and the 50k tourists that visited each year and for the vast majority of the local residents”
How so?. Have the owners agreed to re-open the House to the public, now that the rights of way are no longer accessible? If so, brilliant. If not, genuinely, I don’t understand the point.
I hope so. It would really stick in the craw of the people who opposed this to see the jobs and tourists coming back to the locality.
Whether that opportunity is now lost I hope not.
Surprised their buddies didn’t allow them to bag a few trespassers’ heads for display on the dining room walls…
I wouldn’t want the likes of you walking through my garden either.
Owners spent a fortune of their own EARNED money on this place, government & co council wouldnt buy. Cassidy /Walsh bought back as much of the original furniture / fittings / memorabilia as they could, made the house a local & national tourist asset & serious local employer, & concert venue. In came the begrudgers…. Delighted at the court decision.
However the question of public rights of way does need to be addressed nationally, there is a distinct lack of clarity there, unlike say the UK where traditional pathways etc are well marked, signposted & respected. Try a walking holiday there & in Ireland, the difference is huge.
The people in thecouncil who were pushing this disgraceful lawsuit should be named and shamed. How are they free to spend 7,000,000 of taxpayers money on a vindictive and futile lawsuit. Where are the consequences? The lawyers fir the ciuncil should not be paid and the officials should be fired.
That house and lands were stolen off the poor Irish people 400 years ago the same as Slane castle and lands.If our goverments were any good over the years they would have ran off all them people long ago.Mr.Cassidy bought stolen property so I have no smpaty and I hope it goes to the European court of human rights.
Jimmy, I agree with you and my sister lives in Sligo and tells me that the Sligo people are angy to lose their right of way to a public beach but I like you know the European court will overturn this verdict.
That is lies, I was camping at lissadel beach this summer and spent many days enjoying the beach.
These people spent millions first buying and then restoring the house and lands. They did not remove all rights of way, they still allowed people on their property and to use their beach they just didn’t want people driving directly infront of their house, they are dead right.
People can still get to the beach. Lot of the aggro is that people hate to see good things happening in an area. If the house was never renovated the people would not have bothered with the right of way. People have still gone to the beach over the last no. of years. No one is stopping them.
Denise you haven’t an idea what you are on about.
Of course you agree with him. Like jimmy and dee4 your ignorance knows no bounds.
Rkmr,I bet you wont get near the beach next summer this year no one could stop you because the court case was in motion.
There is a right of way along the coast from the bridge so yes people will still be able to access the beach and I don’t think they ever had any intention of stopping people from using it
It’s mr Walsh and mrs Cassidy. It’s also sympathy the word you can’t spell. Also explain how this case should be brought to the European courts of human rights ?
Aimed at jimmy and Denise the 2 numptys above
100% correct.
Did you watch the news and the judgement? People have not lost their right to walk the beach. I walk that beach on a weekly basis. You haven’t a notion what you’re on about.
JIMMY WITH THAT DEEP INTELLECTUAL INPUT NO WONDER YOU ARE A CAT [I APOLIGISE TO THE FELINES!
jimmy get a grip of reality?! Will you stop your stupid drivel about the Land being stolen? Stop being so hypocritical. Look at what people have done the world over. Look at what the Irish did to the native Americans, or so many other countries. Do you have relatives in America?
The walshs bought Lissadell on the open market. If the state bought it, would it have stolen it? What makes the state a more legal owner?
For years Sligo tried to get a flagship attraction in place. The state, and it’s over paid public “servants” failed to deliver a flag ship attraction. The Walsh’s bought the Lissadell on the open market, paid a fortune restoring the property and then got screwed by the council executive members, three of whom happen to live beside Lissadell!
you need to understand Lissadell was never more accessible, never more looked after and enjoyed by so many people than when the walsh family ran it as the superb visitor centre that it was.
So grt a grip of reality. be thankful that maybe Lissadell might be open again, restored for all the people – and I hope you visit and enjoy it.
And by the way, the council had a solution presented to them before the high court but REFUSED to consider it! The incompetent, wreckless council executive should be sacked. They won’t even meet with the elected representatives! sligo council should be declared insolvent, it’s assets liquidated and the people of sligo should put in place a democratic agency that serve the people.
Denise there are already TWO public roads that to the beach!
Jimmy you really don’t know what you are talking about! There are already TWO public roads to the beach AND a car park that have nothing to do with Lissadell. Access to the beach is as easy as ever!
The reality is that a small group of state funded employees failed to get the state to buy Lissadell and they resent the fact that someone else got it – just sick Irish begrudgery!
Profits before people!
Court supports two wealthy barristers – shock, surprise.
noel are these barristers right to defend their property yes they are .on the other hand they are both members of the kings inn which the judges are all so members and probably know one another , so much for the troika bringing in reform to the legal sector.
Apart from a few people that would fight with a telephone pole who wanted the council to do this. It certainly was not the vast vast majority of the locals.
Unfortunately it’s usually only rich bastards who have the capacity to stand up to the essentially unlimited resources of the state. If more of us were able to do it, the state would probably abuse its powers less often.
So ridiculous just because they are solicitors they can’t bring a case or defend what is rightfully theirs?
How do you know what the locals want?
Do you live in Maugherow or Carney?
Sad that 2 wealthy barristers have more concern for the good of the locality, their new neighbours and the ordinary people that work for them than the self-appointed grandee’s who fought this.
If the house had not been done up and become a place of employment, a tourist destination and a resource to the locality then they people behind this would never have complained or used this access route. Many never will even if they did have it.
Talk for 5 minutes to the people who complaining over this and you’ll see why the locals back the owners.
Noel, I have lived in both Maugherow and Carney for 22 years. Would you prefer to see a very historic house fall to the ground and become a ruin or be tastefully restored and attract people who appreciate it’s historic significance.
This is not a debate about “profits before people”, the facts here are that the Cassidy/Walsh’s bought a house that no one else wanted, beautifully restored it, opened it to the public and attracted over 40,000 per year to an area that has very little else to offer.
This helps the local economy and people were still able to walk the beach despite the propaganda.
I agree with you. I visited the house when it was opened to the public and I feel they have done a great job with an historic house that neither the state or anybody else wanted. The beach will always remain accessible even the Supreme Court noted that. Good on them and I hope they try to open up again and give two fingers to the local begrudgers both political and otherwise, who tried to shaft them when they were trying to do good and employing local people. Sometimes I feel we spout alot of nonsense in this country and this was one of these occasions –with a terrible waste of public money. In my opinion it would be a terrible shame if this remained closed.
Delighted for them, just hope it’s not too late to get it up and running as a tourist destination and concert venue they put so much work in to it and then the heart was pulled out of it
I would not appreciate it if Edward Walsh decided to park at my front door and gawk as of right. I allow him the same right at his front door. Dick Cahill.
I know its the independent so not exactly a great source but they got a grant of 1million of taxpayers money. Quangos and the four Goldmines are the only game in town. In the animal kingdom they dont p1ss in their own watering holes, cant say the same about Ireland.
http://www.independent.ie/irish-news/filthy-rich-we-plead-guilty-as-charged-mlud-26409727.html
“Other high-earning barristers including Constance Cassidy, who specialises in liquor licensing, and her husband Eddie Walsh. They bought Lissadell House in Co Sligo as their second home and have spent ?3m on it – and are now availing of a grant of more than ?1m from Tourism Ireland.”
They were totally entitled to apply for a grant. They spent millions of their own money restoring the house and grounds. They opened the doors to the public, employing many local people and boosting tourism for Sligo. So why shouldn’t they be allowed apply for a grant?
Grants that are there for everyone else as well. The difference is that these people applied for it and did something for the locality.
You can apply for a grant if you get off your behind and do it. The incentives from tax breaks to funding are especially generous if you are unemployed.
I did.
Dee4 you are wrong. The owners of Lissadell did not receive a single cent of grant aid. They only availed of historic house tax relief. So maybe you should amend your comment and opinion?
Bottom line here, taking all emotion out of the equation, is you have to go back to root cause and in this case it is that the state should have bought this asset when they and the chance but they were too shortsighted or mean or maybe both. Congrats to the owners who have out their own money into redeveloping the house. Good luck to them for stepping in and avoiding this historical house becoming another ruin. There are countless others around the country already and it’s a disgrace that they have been allowed to just fall in front of our eyes. Heads do need to role in Sligo county council though. If you push it as hard as they have and you lose then someone needs to be called to account. But I forgot, I Ireland we don’t hold our politicians/public servants accountable.
That Constant Markievicz was some fella!
Well no not quite ….. the multi-millionaires did not initiate the taking of the case, Sligo County Council initiated the case by declaring that anyone had the right to walk up to and past the front door of a private house. The multi-millionaires (if their financial status is relevant?) bought a property of national importance that the state disgracefully neglected to buy, and they renovated it, halting its fall into dereliction and adding value to it. Their taking the case was a response to the Co Co’s assertion that we can all walk past the front door of their private house and past their private business premises. There are already two public roads, with car parks if needed, in place to reach the beach on either side of their big garden. This case has been often misrepresented as one where the public are being denied access to a beach which is not the case at all. I wouldn’t be overly impressed if my local County Council said that it was just fine for the general public to walk in my gate, up to the front door, round the side and through the back garden to get somewhere, particularly if there were was very easy access to that somewhere by a choice of public routes. Does this mean I am trying to design my own prison? Or does the fact that I am a ridiculously long way short of being a millionaire, let alone a multi-millionaire, make the difference? One law for all.
A lot of them protestants in sligo
Are you attempting to make a point with your poorly constructed sentence?
You are probably a d4 yuppy yourself
@johnodonoghue, what is the relevance of the current or past owners religion in this case ? apart from demonstrating your own narrow minded bigotry that is
Trolling for the sake of trolling.
Very pleased to hear that I’m still young enough to be described as a yuppy (a term last used in about 1989)……
You do know that Countess Markievicz was one of ‘them protestants’ from Sligo as you say. Not only was she one of ‘them protestants’ she was actually from Lisadell house itself!
Rubbish she was a woman brought up with a silver spoon.
Not really a point more a statement
I’m hugely confused Ted…. So a multi-millionaire, spent millions of euro in the High court to make sure no one walked in their over sized garden? I would much prefer if they were walled in and allowed to remain in splendid isolation for a very long time. I’m always amazed at how people design their own prisons.
The Cassidy / Walsh family opened the house to the public, wonderful place to visit, lovingly restored, but it is also their home. Anyone who’s been there understands why you couldn’t safely have the through road used willy nilly by the public. Please read comments by the locals in support of the owners. Also worth looking up what the court-appointed guardian of one of the last Gore – Booths did to the estate
http://www.lissadellhouse.com/gabrielle.html
I was there a few years ago when it was thriving and it is one of the most beautiful & spectacular houses in Ireland. I was also there when it was just a right of way and everything was boarded up and our car nearly got stuck in a pot hole on the drive way, it was so so bad. I just don’t understand why Sligo and the Walsh/Cassidy could not come to an agreement before all of this happened. Sligo were defending the rights of a right of way which I’m sure they have to do and the Walsh/Cassidy were defending their property rights as the land owners but there is a lot more info then we will ever know what happened. I would have thought that as it was a thriving tourist attraction that Sligo would looked upon this differently but obviously not. That said, I think Cassidy/Walsh have done an amazing job and got the chance to follow their dreams of making Lisadel a home and to give others the chance to experience this. They have spent a significant amount of time and money developing it into a business which takes a lot of courage. I just really hope that they re open it again and let the public embrace the history of Lisadel, Yeats and markievitz whilst also making it viable business. I’m so delighted for them and I don’t think their legal status played a part in this, they are citizens like each and every one of us, they had the legal knowledge and used it to defend their property. Congratulations to all involved.
I would guess the large crater that ripped the sump from my car was constructed by the owners after the 1st high court decision? There was no problem with the road up till then. This is an example of the sort of nastiness these people are capable off. No Parking?? at the beach is a complete disaster. This country stinks if you want to close access to everything then run your own mini republic? use your own hospitals, roads, schools etc. Speaking of shouldn’t all the kids been at school? somebody should get on to social service’s not only do they have no respect for the people in the area but they also take there kids out of school to fight there battles. The kids have been used as a pawn from the first day of the case attending court regularly. We live in a republic its time we looked to Europe for right of way legislation, what we get in Ireland is just washed up British thrip where the peasant must not be allowed access anywhere
Will someone explain was it necessary to erect what must be 8 ft high barriers around the estate after the original Court judgement. Hope this truly historic House will be reopened and restored now and that the appalling barriers will be dismantled.
I would guess the large crater that ripped the sump from my car was constructed by the owners after the 1st high court decision? There was no problem with the road up till then. No Parking at the beach is a complete disaster. This country stinks if you want to close access to everything then run your own mini republic? use your own hospitals, roads, schools etc. Speaking of shouldn’t all the kids been at school? somebody should get on to social service’s not only do they have no respect for the people in the area but they also take there kids out of school to fight there battles. The kids have been used as a pawn from the first day of the case.
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