Courts

High Court approves Irish will of US-based priest

Cleric owned 40 acres of farmland in Ireland that was left to two cousins in a 2001 Irish will

The judge declared the Irish will to be valid. Photograph: Getty Images

Fri Jun 28 2024 - 16:40

The High Court has approved the Irish will of a late US-based priest after a subsequent American will raised an issue about whether his Irish property had been left to his two cousins.

The priest was attached to an archdiocese in the US before his death and owned 40 acres of farmland in Ireland which he left to two of his cousins in a 2001 Irish will.

However, when he made a US will in 2017 for his American property, it included a revocation clause which did not mention the Irish land and was not intended to revoke the 2001 Irish will, the cousins argued. The priest died in 2019.

The cousins brought a High Court application, with the American lawyer who drew up the US will as respondent, seeking to have the Irish will declared valid. The court heard the priest made the Irish will in August 2001 and appointed three members of the cousins’ family as executors. The cousins looked after the priest’s land and it was intended it would go to one of them and become part of his farm.

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However, he made another will in April 2017 which contained the standard revocation clause of all previous wills and codicils, and in which he made arrangements for his American property after he died. This included investments and a motor vehicle and his funeral arrangements. The priest died in his 70s from a heart attack.

The cousins, in their court application, said they had a very close relationship with the priest and often discussed farming matters with him.

The American lawyer who drew up the US will was unaware of the Irish property and had said the standard revocation clause inserted into that will was not intended to revoke the 2001 Irish will, they said.

The application was heard by Mr Justice David Nolan on Friday following submissions from Daniel Cronin SC, for the cousins. There was no appearance for the US lawyer. The judge said he was satisfied to grant the order sought and he admitted the Irish will to probate.

The judge said that the priest had strong links with the defendants before his death and discussed with them how his 40 acres were looked after.

He said it was also clear from the priest’s US will that he was “a man of particularity” and if he had wanted his Irish estate to be included in the US will he would have said so. He also had discussions with one of his cousins about the land three months before he died.

The judge noted that the priest’s US attorney had also expressed surprise that there was any Irish land. He found it would be contrary to the priest’s intentions if the court was to find the Irish will had been revoked and he therefore declared it to be valid.

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