A FARMER from Coomhola has been convicted of harassing his neighbour over a four-year period.

Eoin Lynch (43) of Milleen Farm, Coomhola, Bantry, denied harassing Gerard O’Sullivan of Derryduff, Coomhola, between December 2020 and January 2025.

His wife Nicola Leonard, of the same address, faced a single harassment charge but at a previous court hearing Judge Joanne Carroll dismissed it.

Insp Derek Mulcahy told Bantry District Court that the accused rents a farm from his father at Milleens that can only be accessed by a right-of-way owned by Gerard O’Sullivan.

He said the right-of-way has a ford – a shallow spot in the Derryduff River which allows vehicles, pedestrians, or animals to cross directly through the water – but it floods at times of heavy rainfall.

Gerard O’Sullivan gave evidence that Eoin Lynch and Nicola Leonard moved to the nearby farm in 2018.

He said they asked to register the right-of-way, and he and his wife, Martina, were ‘happy to oblige’.

Mr O’Sullivan said that in making the right-of-way official, in accordance with the Land and Conveyancing Law Reform Act, it was agreed that the gate would be closed at all times, and that the laneway would be kept clean and tidy.

He said in March 2020 the accused asked about a bridge to cross the ford and he told him: ‘If we are going to do this we will do it right’ and got engineer’s drawings.

The witness then gave evidence of a number of incidents which he described as ‘upsetting’. 

He outlined one interaction in which Eoin Lynch shook his fists at him, leaving him feeling threatened.

The witness said he kept a log.

One was of Mr Lynch using a tractor to clear the laneway claiming it was so they wouldn’t slip in the mud.

But Gerard O’Sullivan said the materials were dumped into his chicken pen.

He said the gate adjacent to his property was kicked over. On another occasion, Gerard O’Sullivan said he heard strange sounds and thought it was his sheep, but when he went to check he found Eoin Lynch making ape sounds in the river.

He said the accused uprooted fence posts but when he went to speak to him Eoin Lynch told him that he was putting their lives in danger.

‘He got very close to me. I was in fear of a confrontation. I asked him to please get off my property. He bent down to pick up a twig and he said I kneed him in the face. He fell backwards and he said he had all this on video,’ said Gerard O’Sullivan.

He said another time, Eoin Lynch approached him and spoke about having independent access saying: ‘You are a f***ing land thief and a murderer. You go ahead and call the cops in Bantry.’

Shortly after, Gerard O’Sullivan said he and his wife offered the couple a quarter-acre to develop their own bridge if they would revoke the right-of-way.

He told the court they installed CCTV in April 2024 and gave footage to gardaí. At an earlier court sitting witness Martina O’Sullivan said Eoin Lynch was using a mini-digger on the right-of-way in November 2022 when she asked him to ‘please stop’.

She told the court he put his phone right up to her face and said: ‘We are maintaining the road.”

‘I don’t feel at home in my own place any more,’ she said. ‘It feels as if our property is being disrespected and tampered with. It makes us feel like wanting to pack up and go.’

In a statement to gardaí, Nicola Leonard said the offer of the quarter acre was not realistic because the cost of constructing a bridge would be
exorbitant.

She claimed they had been harassed and shouted at and when the river is high they have to ‘wade through filthy pond water’.

Eoin Lynch told gardaí Gerard O’Sullivan put his knee in front of his face causing him to fall backwards and that he held a massive needle over him. He added: ‘I could see spittle coming out of his mouth in anger.’

Alan O’Dwyer, BL, said his client was not going into evidence in his own defence.

Judge Carroll said she had read the victim impact statement and ‘fully understands the complete upset and trauma of the injured party at the hands of Mr Lynch’.

The judge noted: ‘The injured party is a more vulnerable person in that he had a cancer diagnosis prior to these events occurring. Eoin Lynch carried out harassment, intimidation and bullying against Mr O’Sullivan from December 2020 to January 2025.’

Judge Carroll imposed a €2,000 fine and a five-month sentence suspended for two years.

As part of that order, and the conditions of bail (after his legal team said they would appeal the conviction to the circuit court) Judge Carroll instructed Eoin Lynch not to go within 15 metres of Gerard O’Sullivan’s home; not to approach Gerard O’Sullivan; or be within 10 metres of his person other than when he is passing on the right-of-way.

The judge also made an order prohibiting Eoin Lynch from communicating with Mr O’Sullivan, directly or indirectly, other than through email or solicitors, and from publishing anything on social media.

‘If the gardaí come into court with another complaint, I will have no hesitation in activating the suspended sentence,’ said Judge Carroll.

Funded by the Courts Reporting Scheme.