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GAZETTE
MARCH 1981
Recent
Irish
Cases
FAMILY LAW — CUSTODY
Mother seeking custody of her seven
year old daughter who had been
living for some years with her
maternal grandparents and had only
been visited occasionally by the
mother during that period. Mother
granted custody and grandparents
ordered to have access to the infant
for lengthy periods.
This was an action brought by the
Plaintiff seeking custody of her 1 \
year old daughter. The proceedings
were originally instituted naming as
Defendants the Plaintiff's mother and
father with whom the daughter in
question was residing but on the
direction of the High Court at a
preliminary hearing the father of the
infant child (hereinafter referred to as
"M") was added as a third
Defendant.
The Plaintiff was aged 31 years
and the first two Defendants were
aged 70 and 71 years respectively.
After
completing
third
level
education the Plaintiff returned home
to live on the family farm in Cork.
She became friendly with a young
man, "M", of her own age who was
working as a labourer on the famil)
farm. Her parents disapproved of this
relationship. She and "M" in effect
ran away from home and came to
Dublin where they lived for some
period in 1971.
By the commencement of 1972
the Plaintiff had become pregnant
and she then married "M" in January
1972. The child was born in June
1972. The Plaintiff and "M" lived in
various flats in Dublin and suffered
considerable poverty. "M" was an
alcoholic and there were problems
from the very start of the marriage.
There was no contact between the
Plaintiff and her parents or other
members of the family from the time
she went to Dublin in 1971 until the
Summer of 1973 when she returned
for a short period to her home for the
funeral of her grandmother.
Towards the end of 1973 the
Plaintiff and "M" brought the child
for the first time to her home in Cork.
The Plaintiff and her husband
separated in 1974 and did not have
any significant contact with one
another after that time. In the
Summer of 1974 contact between the
Plaintiff and her parents had been re-
sumed and they visited her in Dublin
from time to time.
The Plaintiff then asked her
mother to look after the child and she
brought the child down to Cork. This
arrangement was intended to be of a
temporary nature. The Plaintiff then
obtained employment and lived on
her own in various flats in Dublin.
By the commencement of 1975
the Plaintiff was beginning to suffer
from depression and in the Spring of
1976 there was superimposed on this
a physical ailment necessitating an
operation and a period of con-
valescence. Contact was maintained
between the Plaintiff and her parents
during all this period, and from time
to time she visited her parents in
Cork and saw the child although
frequency of these visits was
disputed.
By the year 1977 the Plaintiff's
condition of depression had worsened
and after a major break-down in-
volving an attempted suicide she was
admitted as a patient to a psychiatric
day centre. She attended there on a
daily basis between October 1977
until the end of February 1978.
During this period she developed a
friendship with another patient, "P."
In March 1978 the Plaintiff took an
overdose of drugs and was admitted
to a psychiatric hospital. After being
discharged she stayed with one of her
brothers in Cork and later returned to
Dublin.
Having obtained an annulment
from the Catholic Church of her
Canonical marriage with "M" the
Plaintiff married "P" in July 1979
according to the Rites of the Catholic
Church. Her parents strongly dis-
approved of this marriage and all sig-
nificant contact ceased between the
Plaintiff and her parents.
The matter first came before the
High Court on an interlocutory
application in July 1979 and the
President (Finlay P.) made an Order
that the Plaintiff should have access
to see the child in Cork on stated
occasions. Significant disputes arose
relating to access and the matter
came before the President on two
other occasions before the full
hearing.
At the time of the full hearing the
Plaintiff had been employed for 18
months as an assistant in a pre-play-
school run by nuns in Dublin.
"P" was 21 years of age and came
from a broken home. He had been
working at various different jobs and
at the time of the hearing was earning
£55 net per week as a store assis-
tant. He had been treated for depres-
sion in a psychiatric day centre and,
as stated, above it was there where he
met the Plaintiff.
The Plaintiff was earning £35 per
week and both of them were residing
in a two-room flat but at the time of
the Court hearing they secured a
lease of a furnished three bedroomed
house which they expected to occupy
within three weeks.
The Plaintiff sought custody of the
child and proposed altering her
working days in order to bring the
child to and from school. She
proposed that the child should have
frequent staying access with her
grandparents.
The grandparents (i.e. first and
second Defendants) on the other
hand contended that it was in the
interests of the welfare of the child
that the child should continue
residing with them and continue
attending school in Cork. They
proposed that the Plaintiff should
have frequent access.
Both the Plaintiff and the grand-
parents agreed that "M" (the father
of the child) should have access to the
child in Cork, but, both agreed that
"M" should not be given staying
access.
"M" did not seek custody but sup-
ported the grandparents contention
that the child's welfare would be
better served by the child living with
the grandparents in Cork.
The grandparents contended that
the Plaintiff had not shown a true
maternal affection or care for the
child and they contended that the
Plaintiff was not interested in the
child. The Court rejected this con-
tention. The Plaintiff contended that
she had been consistently seeking the
return of the child whereas the child's
grandparents contended that the
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