THE FUTURE of Lissadell House in Co Sligo as a tourist resource is in doubt following the High Court ruling that rights of way exist over the avenues through the estate.
In a case that ran for 58 days and ran up legal costs estimated to be at least €3 million, the court rejected a claim by the owners of Lissadell that Sligo County Council had wrongfully asserted a public right of way over their lands.
Edward Walsh and his wife Constance Cassidy claimed the council’s actions were an improper interference with their business interests.
The couple bought the house in August 2003 from Sir Josslyn Gore-Booth, nephew of Countess Markievicz, who grew up there. The house also has associations with WB Yeats, who visited on a number of occasions and famously refers to it in In Memory of Eva Gore-Booth and Con Markiewicz.
Mr Justice Bryan McMahon delivered the main points of his 177-page judgment over 2½ hours in the High Court yesterday, finding that the use of the avenues by local people since at least the 1950s showed the existence of a right of way.
In a ruling likely to have implications for other right-of-way disputes, he said evidence of long use of a right of way creates a public right of way, except in truly exceptional cases.
Mr Walsh and Ms Cassidy were both in court yesterday, accompanied by their seven children and other family members.
"We took on what the State was not prepared to do. We had a vision. The vision is over. My involvement ceases," Mr Walsh told The Irish Timesafter the judgment.
He said they would discuss with their lawyers the possibility of an appeal. They would also make immediate arrangements to have the gates opened, he said.
In finding there was a right of way, Mr Justice McMahon said what the owners were attempting to do with the estate was commendable, aesthetically sensitive and of benefit to the whole of the Sligo area.
Although the gates to the historic estate were duly opened following the judgment, locals were not in the mood for a triumphant lap of honour.
Those who had fought to protect a right of way through the estate, and others from the locality, expressed the hope that Mr Walsh and Ms Cassidy would continue to maintain and promote the ancestral home of the Gore-Booth family.
Cllr Joe Leonard, chairman of Sligo County Council and a key figure in the protracted legal battle, insisted that the owners would have the support of their neighbours if they continued their work at Lissadell.
Mr Leonard, a local resident and the councillor who in December 2008 proposed that the county development plan be amended to protect the rights of way, said the rights of the public and of local people had been vindicated by the ruling.
Another local resident, Jim Meehan, stressed that there had always been great affection between the local community and the Gore-Booth family.
Mr Meehan (59) said that throughout his life he had taken for granted his right to walk, cycle, run and drive on the roads through Lissadell and he was aware that generations of his family right back to his great-great-grandparents had taken the same rights for granted.
He said that once the “signs went up” and the gates were closed by the new owners, he had stayed away as he did not want confrontation.
He believed it would be “a great tragedy” if the Walsh-Cassidy family did not continue with the good work they had done at Lissadell. He said there would be no triumphant gathering of local people on the estate and he hoped that everyone involved, including the owners, would “find a way through this”.
Mayor of Sligo Matt Lyons said there were no winners or losers after the case. “I hope the family will stay and continue to operate Lissadell, which was attracting over 40,000 visitors a year and was a great benefit to Sligo,” he said.
Stella Mew, president of the Yeats Society, expressed sympathy for the family and said she believed some local people did not appreciate the difference between access and trespass.
“I think it would be a very great pity if the owners lose their right to privacy,” she said.
In a statement, Sligo County Council said its overriding concern in this case had been to safeguard the public interest.