Castle owner settles claim with ESB over manhole fall

The ESB and the woman who owns the oldest inhabited castle in Ireland settled their differences outside the High Court yesterday.

Elaine Rhys-Davies, aged 61, of Ballea Castle in Carrigaline, Co Cork, had claimed that she sustained horrific injuries when she fell into a manhole through a broken manhole cover. The ESB said she stumbled near the hole but never fell into it.

The case went into its third day before the High Court in Cork. However, shortly after noon the plaintiff’s senior counsel, James O’Mahony, told Mr Justice Henry Abbott the case could be struck out with no order.