Do public rights of way exist in Ireland?

Roen

Hi all,

I had a conversation with a solicitor friend of mine a few years back and he maintained (as far as I can remember) that rights of way didn't exist in Ireland.

He qualified in England and has worked in property law since. As such he's not an authority on Irish law, although he would certainly know more about it than I do.

Just wondering if anyone has a definitive answer, if such a thing exists in law, on the subject.

What caused me to remember our conversation was this discussion over on the Photography forum.

Cheers.

Tom Young

Very much so. See www.landregistry.ie if you need more information or some guidance papers.

johnnyskeleton

If they didn't you wouldn't have laneways running through other people's land as can be seen across the country.

I'm sure he meant to say that there is some subtle difference between English and Irish rights of ways, but something got lost in the translation.

Tom Young

johnnyskeleton wrote: »

something got lost in the translation.

English is a terribly difficult language

Victor

The vast majority of roads in Ireland are public rights of way. The land under them is typically owned by the adjacent land owners. The major exception is modern housing estates and the like.

In English law, there are separate categories of foot paths, bridle paths, etc. that are paths, not roads (no motor vehicles allowed, etc.). In some areas of England, there are as much of these paths as there are roads.

Roen

Victor wrote: »

The vast majority of roads in Ireland are public rights of way. The land under them is typically owned by the adjacent land owners. The major exception is modern housing estates and the like.

In English law, there are separate categories of foot paths, bridle paths, etc. that are paths, not roads (no motor vehicles allowed, etc.). In some areas of England, there are as much of these paths as there are roads.

Cheers Victor,
I think that was what I had in mind, specifically foot paths through or adjacent to private property. There are places around my city, and indeed any city I have lived in that are handy shortcuts that seem to be private property, but are in use daily by Joe Soap. I know In England you have footpaths and bridleways that cut straight through private land. I was just wondering do similar exist here.

Tom Young

Very much so. Do you have a specific question about their constitution? Some pretty interesting cases including one about the Old Head of Kinsale in recent years. That's a famous golf course with a Right of Way through the centre. Bugger for landing a chopper on

motivation

How much in money is a right of way worth when buying land. thank you.

conorh91

motivation wrote: »

How much in money is a right of way worth when buying land. thank you.

Eleventy million farthings and thruppence.

Also, this thread is nearly older than I am.

Marcusm

Tom Young wrote: »

Very much so. Do you have a specific question about their constitution? Some pretty interesting cases including one about the Old Head of Kinsale in recent years. That's a famous golf course with a Right of Way through the centre. Bugger for landing a chopper on

Surely the Lisadell case involving senior counsel is more interesting/high profile even if most of the claimed rights of way did not exist.

barneystinson

Marcusm wrote: »

Surely the Lisadell case involving senior counsel is more interesting/high profile even if most of the claimed rights of way did not exist.

Surely if you'd looked closely you'd see the post you're replying to is 7 years old and that the Lissadell case was only in its infancy then

MarkAnthony

conorh91 wrote: »

Eleventy million farthings and thruppence.

Also, this thread is nearly older than I am.

It's so old Tom Young was still using Smileys!

Ardillaun

I do notice a marked difference in the number of public footpaths through farmers’ fields in, say, Berkshire compared to most of Ireland. This was less of a problem when Irish roads of nearly any size weren’t busy places and one could safely wander along many of them. Given that the vast majority of us no longer own or work on farms, it is surely time to look at how the rest of Western Europe balances competing interests in this matter? I should say I have no desire at all to approach farmers’ homes or gardens before anybody raises that objection. Obviously we would also have to deal with another issue we have created - compo culture.

HeidiHeidi

Holy double zombie-thread revival!

Started 2007, inexplicably resurrected in 2014.

And out of the blue, again today 🙄

How did you even find it?

Ardillaun

I think I looked up rights of way. As the Brits move towards completing the coastal path around their entire island, a wonderful achievement, you’d think we’d be talking about when we’d manage the same for walkers here but we just don’t seem to care very much.

plodder

The Lissadell case clarified the law here and showed that it is way weaker than in England (and Scotland). If I'm not mistaken the law that applies here is basically that which applied in England when we got independence. So, while the UK moved on and established clear rights to roam, we just replaced one set of landlords with another.

And that is why rights of way are quite rare in this country, but in England, relatively speaking you can't throw a stone without hitting one.

Genghis

The English really do cherish their right of way heritage. You can actually apply to reinstate any historical right of way if you can prove it once existed, and it can be reinstated even if it passes through family homes, working farms or even commercial premises.

The UK government had sought to limit this right by 2026 to a map that definitively showed all right of ways, but had to agree to extend it 5 more years such was the work needed by rights groups to unearth and then preserve centuries of historic rights of way.

https://www.nfuonline.com/updates-and-information/cut-off-date-for-historical-paths-reintroduced/

csirl

In Ireland, a public right of way cannot be established through usage over time. It can in the UK - they have legislation allowing this from the 1940s. No equivalent legislation was ever passed in Ireland.

There's a High Court case called Leonach v Walker where the Judge explains the criteria for ROWs in Ireland.