Anne Mullholland v Maureen Kane & John Kane (As personal representatives of the estate of Seamus Kane Deceased)
| Jurisdiction | Northern Ireland |
| Judge | Deeny J |
| Judgment Date | 08 September 2009 |
| Neutral Citation | [2009] NICh 9 |
| Court | Chancery Division (Northern Ireland) |
| Date | 08 September 2009 |
| Year | 2009 |
1
2007 No 108841
IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUSTICE IN NORTHERN IRELAND
CHANCERY DIVISION
________
BETWEEN:
ANNE MULHOLLAND
Plaintiff;
and
MAUREEN KANE AND JOHN KANE AS PERSONAL
REPRESENTATIVES OF THE ESTATE OF SEAMUS KANE, DECEASED
Respondents.
________
DEENY J
[1] The plaintiff in this action was one of eight children of a small farmer
living near Ballycastle, County Antrim. She was born in 1960. At the age of
15 she began helping Seamus Kane at the lambing season. His circumstances
were rather different, although some of his land marched with her father’s
land. He was then 42 years of age, unmarried and the owner of some 490
acres of land used for sheep farming, including a share of mountain grazing.
[2] The plaintiff left school at the age of 16. At about that time a sexual
relationship was commenced between her and Seamus Kane. This was to
continue, it appears, for the rest of his life. Neither married nor formed any
other similar relationship nor had children. But it was an unusual
relationship. The plaintiff is a hardworking and industrious woman. She left
school without any qualifications at all and smiled, when giving evidence, at
the idea that she might have passed the 11 plus examination. She worked for
many years in a factory in Ballycastle until its closure. But when she came
home in the evenings and at the weekends she would help Seamus Kane on
the farm. This would involve not only help with the lambing season but
dosing sheep, dipping them and helping with clipping and other tasks. It is
Neutral Citation No. [2009] NICh 9 Ref:
DEE7519
Judgment: approved by the Court for handing down Delivered:
8/09/2009
(subject to editorial corrections)
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Her Majesty’s Principal Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government v Praxis Care and Persons Unknown
...[16] Practical applications of the doctrine in this jurisdiction are to be found in Kinney v McKittrick [2011] NICh 24; Mulholland v Kane [2009] NICh 9 and McLaughlin v Murphy [2007] NICh 5. However, the factual circumstances in those cases, rural and, at least, quasi-familial, are very dif......