McAuliffe v Moloney

• Jurisdiction: Ireland
• Judgment Date: 07 October 1971
• Docket Number: [1966. No. 813 P.]
• Date: 07 October 1971
• Court: Supreme Court

(S.C.)

McAuliffe

and

Moloney

Tenant - Child of tenant injured by collapse of gate at entrance to forecourt of premises let to tenant - Landlord's covenant to repair external parts of premises - Whether landlord liable in action for damages.

The infant plaintiff was swinging on a gate when it collapsed and he was injured. The gate was at the entrance to the forecourt of premises which were let to the plaintiff's father by the defendant. The letting described the take as a dwellinghouse "together with the use" of the forecourt, and the letting contained a covenant by the defendant landlord to keep "the external parts of the said premises"in repair. The lease under which the defendant held the property described the demised premises as the dwellinghouse "together with the use"of the forecourt. The plaintiff claimed damages from the defendant on the grounds that he had been negligent and had maintained a nuisance. At the conclusion of the plaintiffs evidence at the trial of his action in the High Court, the trial judge withdrew the plaintiff's case from the jury on the ground that the evidence was insufficient to support a finding in favour of the plaintiff...