Uncle may have had dementia longer than thought in case over €3m farm inheritance

High Court Reporters

Documents provided to lawyers for a man who says he was wrongfully disinherited from his late uncle's €3 million farm appear to show his uncle’s vascular dementia was raised as far back as 2007, not ten years ago as first thought, the High Court has heard.

Bachelor farmer, Thomas Doherty (93), had promised his nephew, Damien Quane, that his 145-acre holding at Home Farm, Elton, Knocklong, Co Limerick, would go to him when he died, it is claimed.

Quane, it is claimed, worked his uncle's farm from an early age, particularly after his uncle had a heart bypass in 1999.

His uncle made four previous wills between 1997 and 2007, making that bequest. But he revoked those wills in 2013 and left the land to another nephew.

It is claimed in proceedings by Quane seeking to stop the sale of the land by the executor of the estate, that the last will was made under undue influence from the deceased's priest brother, Fr Patrick Doherty.

He had returned permanently to Home Farm in 1993 from Wisconsin, USA, which the family discovered had followed allegations of improper behaviour by the priest with young men and over his alcoholism.

Doherty, who died in 2025, a year after Thomas died, had continued his behaviour here and had young men staying at the Home Farm house for extended periods in the presence of Thomas, it is claimed.

By 2015, Thomas was admitted to a nursing home suffering from dementia.

On Tuesday, Quane, of Rathany, Hospital, Co Limerick, was granted an interim injunction against Larry O'Brien, the executor of the deceased's estate, from taking any steps to sell the land.

On Thursday, when the case returned to court, David Sutton, for Quane, said there was information in documents sent to them by the defendant's lawyers appearing to show that Thomas' vascular dementia had been raised as far back as 2007, not ten years ago as previously thought.

There had been a huge amount of medical records provided, which may be relevant to the case, and his side needed time to reply, Sutton said.