Bank official wins ownership of allotments after oversight

A bank official’s back garden grew to the size of a hockey pitch when a judge told her the land she had looked after for 12 years was now hers.

Mary Byrne, of 33 Brian Road, Marino, Dublin, had told the Circuit Civil Court that she tended old allotments leased by Dublin Corporation to her grandfather and which were passed down to her through her grandparents.

Judge Francis Comerford granted Ms Byrne a declaration that the lands, extending to just under a quarter of an acre, were now hers. He said Dublin City Council had missed an opportunity to turn the property into a public amenity or to return them to allotments status for local residents.