Mother and son were armed with shovel and rifle during row over gorse fire in West Cork

The court heard there was a history of ongoing issues between the mother and the neighbours who were friends with her ex-partner

The mother had told gardaí: “My boundary was on fire. I live in fear. The fact that there is continued interference with my boundary. I had a deep suspicion they were involved in setting fire to my boundary."

A mother and son who believed that neighbours had started a gorse fire damaging their boundary decided to drive to their house in West Cork on that Sunday afternoon armed with a shovel and a lever action rifle.

Mary Noonan of Moneglea, Dunmanway, County Cork, pleaded guilty to production of a shovel during the incident and possession of a .22 lever action rifle without a certificate. Her adult son Oisín Noonan pleaded guilty to the single count of having the rifle without a certificate.