Priest gets 27% of home he shared with gay partner

After a courtroom battle, a priest has been given more than a quarter share in a cottage that he shared with his gay partner.

Fr Gabriel Rosbotham took his partner, ex-cleric Hugo Crawford, to court claiming a share of the property at Letterbarrow outside Mountcharles.

The property, known as Rose Cottage, is to be now divided, with Mr Crawford getting a 73% share of any future sale.

Fr Rosbotham had looked for an even 50% share of any future sale of the property.

However, Judge Keenan Johnson told Donegal Town Circuit Court he was calculating ownership based on how much money he believed each party had contributed to the property.

He found that Fr Rosbotham, a curate in Ballina, Co Mayo, had contributed €22,500 to the cottage while Mr Crawford’s contribution amounted to just over €59,000.

The court had heard how Fr Rosbotham and Mr Crawford met in the 1980s when they were both Franciscan brothers.

Mr Crawford quit his order and paid £25,000 for the house in 1994.

In 2000 and 2002 he had applied to add Fr Rosbotham’s name to the title deeds as by that stage the priest had also left the Franciscans — which has a vow of poverty and a ban on ownership of property — and had become a curate in Ballina.

In his evidence Fr Rosbotham said he had paid towards the mortgage and the house’s upkeep.

His lawyer, Peter Nolan, explained his name could not be added to the title deeds of the house in 1994 because of his then vow of poverty.

Mr Nolan produced letters written in 2000 in which Mr Crawford had said to the bank that he wished for Fr Rosbotham’s name to be added to the mortgage.

In early 2002, the couple had fallen out and the priest alleged they had agreed to sell the house and split the money. Legal action began over ownership in 2004.

In summing up, Judge Johnson said “They are both clearly very decent men who still have considerable regard for each other. They have dedicated their lives to helping others, Fr Rosbotham as a priest and Mr Crawford as a carer.

“I think it is unfortunate that this matter had to be aired in court and it certainly strikes me as a case that was tailor-made for mediation.”