Godley v Power

• Jurisdiction: Ireland
• Judgment Date: 01 January 1961
• Date: 01 January 1961
• Court: Supreme Court

(S.C.)

Godley

and

Power

Verbal contract - Letter of defendant's solicitor confirming sale - Whether sufficient memorandum in writing - Statute of Frauds, 1695, s. 2

The plaintiff, the owner of a licensed premises, alleged that the defendant had entered into a concluded verbal agreement in September, 1953, to purchase the premises together with certain chattels and stock. At the hearing neither the plaintiff or the defendant gave evidence, but the defendant's solicitor gave evidence that the defendant instructed him that he had purchased the premises for £2,250 and on the same day the defendant's solicitor telephoned the plaintiff's solicitor and subsequently confirmed the conversation by a letter stating the purchase price, the liability of the Vendor to pay half the auctioneer's fees and asking to have the agreement for sale with an enclosed inventory included. An inhabitant of the place where the premises are situated testified that in September, 1953, the defendant told him that he had purchased the premises and a local Garda gave evidence that at the same period he was introduced to the defendant as the new proprietor of the new premises. A few days after the date of the oral contract the defendant attempted to withdraw from the sale on the grounds that certain articles included in the inventory had been removed, that audited figures had not been furnished and that the plaintiff had neglected to give possession within five days as agreed. The defendant did not raise any objection to title as furnished by the plaintiff. The plaintiff, in the final form of this claim, sued for specific performance and in the alternative for damages for breach of a...