Cows removed as bitter dispute drags on

WHAT seemed like a sequel to John B Keane’s play The Field played out on a thistle-pocked patch of land in west Limerick yesterday under the watchful eye of a force of gardaí.

Fifteen “squatter” cattle were removed by the lawful owners of the 40-acre piece of land while their owner, Danny Doherty remains in Limerick prison, refusing to purge his contempt of court order that he has no right to the land.

Bachelor brothers Eddie and Matt Roche farmed the craggy hillside holding at Rathcahill, Templeglantine where they eked out a living with a few dairy cows.

Keen “doggy” men, the brothers also kept a few greyhounds.

Matt died in 2002. When Eddie passed away two years later all hell broke loose as there was no will.

Battle lines were drawn in a bitter struggle for the holding

A nephew of the Roche brothers, Eamonn Roche, was appointed administrator of the property, which also had a dwelling, on behalf of 12 nephews and nieces.

Neighbour Doherty chall-enged their right to the land, saying he helped the brothers run the farm, saving hay and walking their greyhounds.

He also claimed Matt told him the land was his when he and his brother died.

He lost his case in the Circuit Court and an appeal was thrown out by the High Court.

Emmet O’Brien, barrister for the Roche family, described Doherty in court as “a land grabber”.

Doherty’s solicitor, John Cuss-en, compared him to Margaret Thatcher in that “Danny Doherty was not for turning” on the matter.

After a week in jail, Doherty was brought back to a special sitting of the Circuit Court last Friday and still refused to give an undertaking to purge his contempt and not enter the land.

Judge Carroll Moran said when he had a change of mind the court would facilitate his early release. As Doherty was led away by prison officers, another problem surfaced: he still had 15 cattle grazing on the land at Templeglantine.

Mr O’Brien said they would transfer the animals to Do-herty land if given Garda cover.

Yesterday Sergeant John Lynch from Abbefeale and six gardaí travelled to the farm with Mr Roche as administrator, and some of his relatives.

On arrival they found a four-foot-high pile of rocks blocking the entrance. A jeep parked inside the pile of rocks had a windscreen message: “Land Dispute Danny Doherty.”

A digger quickly cleared the entrance and a tractor and trailer ferried away the animals, followed by a Garda van, traffic corps vehicle and a patrol car.

The cavalcade threaded its way along tight boreens before Doherty’s cattle were deposited onto designated land 10km from Rathcahill.

Mr Roche, who supervised the operation on behalf of the Roche family, said: “This is going on for the past six years. It’s terrible blackguarding. We have to keep our property. We’ll hardly get a holiday out of it, when it’s all over.”