Tag Archives: Clare family law courts

A FATHER told his estranged partner that he would come for her if their son “turns out gay” in a row over the young boy’s haircut, a court has heard. At Ennis District Court, the mother of the young boy said the boy’s father made a “direct threat” after he said that “I was cutting his hair gay.” She said, “He told me that “if he turns out gay that he would come for me”. She added, “I saw it a direct threat over the history that we have.” The woman has a Safety Order in place against the man since 2020 and he was before the court concerning an alleged breach of the Safety Order arising from the words allegedly uttered at The Planet play-centre for children in Ennis on August 18 2022. The woman said, “I made the complaint against him because I was in fear. I was scared.” However, Judge Mary Larkin dismissed the alleged Safety Order …

A JUDGE has compared a bitter family row over a €1 million farm to John B Keane’s The Field and 1980s US TV soap opera, Dallas. At the Family Law Court, Judge Alec Gabbett made his comments when dismissing a mother’s Barring Order and Safety Order applications against her farmer son. Judge Gabbett said that he was dismissing the entire domestic violence proceedings against the man “for the simple reason that this is a civil matter”. Judge Gabbett said, “It is unseemly and shouldn’t be before any domestic violence court.” The son – who has won awards for his farming – leases the farm from his mother after her husband and his father died a number of years ago leaving the farm to his widow. Solicitor for the son, Mairead Doyle told the court that the two have fallen out after the mother reneged on a written undertaking to voluntarily transfer the farm to her son. In evidence the son …

A JUDGE has called on Gardai to interview a father accused of sexually abusing his daughter “as a matter of urgency”. At the Family Law Court, Judge Mary Larkin said, “I hate to say it but if the man went down to Supermacs and stole a burger he would probably be interviewed within the week”. Judge Larkin made her comment after solicitor, Pamela Clancy for the man said that it may be a number of months before Gardai interview her client on the matter. Ms Clancy said that there was a complaint made against the man to TUSLA of sexual abuse of his child two weeks after a circuit court judge struck out a family law appeal by the child’s mother. Ms Clancy said that an independent child expert last year recommended in a report that the father should have sole custody of his daughter. The estranged couple are currently going divorce proceedings and on the need by Gardai to …

A MAN kicked and stripped his then partner and gave her a black eye five days after the woman miscarried her pregnancy earlier this year, a court has heard. At the Family Law Court, the woman said that in an earlier assault this year “he gave me a black eye and beat me while I was pregnant”. The woman said that the maternity hospital where she was going do have records of bruises on her body. Recounting another alleged assault on her by the man last year, the woman said that her then partner “hit me across the face, bit my nose and stripped me naked”. Recalling the alleged assault five days after she miscarried this year, the softly spoken woman said that after the couple got home from a family event, “he kicked me and stripped me again”.  She said: “He hit my head off the wall. Gave me another black eye and that went on for two hours …

A JUDGE has granted a three-year barring order against a man after hearing that in the past he has taken out a belt to try to whip his wife. At the Family Law Court, Judge Mary Larkin issued the order which bars the man from the family home for three years after hearing a daughter of the couple describing her father as “a very violent person” and said that in the past he has taken out his belt to try to whip her mother. Previously, the man’s wife here alleged as part of her Protection Order application against the man that he has “secretly got married to three of four ladies in Nigeria”. When asked in court by solicitor, Ann Walsh for the woman “what about these wives in Africa?” the man replied “there are no wives in Nigeria – point of correction. I had one wife before her”. The man denied assaulting his wife and daughter but Judge Larkin …

A father has told a judge that he is refusing to sign forms to allow his two-year-old son to obtain a passport because he doesn’t like the name given to the boy by his mother. At the Family Law Court, the father told Judge Mary Larkin that the middle name given to the boy by his mother “is a name you give to people who beat drums and dance – we don’t beat drums and we don’t dance in our family”. The man said that when his estranged wife had the baby “we sat down together and made a decision of the name we were going to give to the baby”. The man said however that his estranged wife included the additional name in their son’s birth certificate without telling him. He said, “We have no such name in our family. It is for people who beat drums and dance and we don’t belong to that family.” He said, “I …

A MOTHER has lost her court battle with her estranged partner to have their son enrolled in a primary Gaelscoil. At the Family Law Court, Judge Mary Larkin issued a ‘Níl’ to the mother’s wish to enrol the couple’s young boy at her local Gaelscoil. Instead, Judge Larkin made a court order directing that the child commence school chosen by the boy’s father where subjects – apart from Irish – will be taught through English. In making her ruling, Judge Larkin stated that she has taken into account that the child has speech and language difficulties and that she was absolutely satisfied that a second language can be introduced later. Judge Larkin said that “when he goes to school there is no need for the child to be perplexed or bothered by a second language while he is coming to terms with his first language”. The couple have joint custody of the child and Judge Larkin criticised the two over …

A JUDGE in Clare has refused to grant a domestic violence Protection Order to a man ‘with three wives’. At the Family Law Court in Ennis, Judge Alec Gabbett told the man that he was refusing him the Protection Order against his wife as his evidence didn’t meet the threshold for the granting of a Protection Order. At the outset of the case, Judge Gabbett said ‘you are the man with the three wives’ after telling the man that he knew about him as he had granted a Protection Order to the man’s wife living here last week in the same court. In her successful Protection Order application, the woman said that she hasn’t had intimate relations with her husband since Summer 2021, “because of infidelity as he secretly got married to three or four ladies in Nigeria”. The woman said her intimate relationship with her husband also ended due to his anger and aggressive behaviour that included death threats, sexual harassment, …