McLoughlin v Galway County Council

• Jurisdiction: Ireland
• Judgment Date: 01 January 1953
• Date: 01 January 1953
• Court: Supreme Court

(S.C.),

McLoughlin

and

Galway County Council

Claim for compensation - Delay - Failure to commence proceedings within the statutory period - "Reasonable cause" - Workmen's Compensation Act, 1934 (No. 9 of 1934), s. 31.

The applicant, a wardsmaid employed by the respondents at the Central Hospital, Galway, met with an accident arising out of and in the course of her employment on the 24th October, 1949, as a result of which she was totally incapacitated from the 14th November to the 20th December, from the 27th January, 1950, to the 5th April, 1950, and from the 11th November, 1950, to the date of hearing in the Circuit Court. Following the accident the applicant suffered pain at the base of her spine, but, at first regarding her injury as trivial, she made no claim for compensation. When she was readmitted to the Hospital on the 11th November, 1950, she was found to be suffering from a tubercular disease of one of the bones of the spine with the added complication of tuberculosis in the front of the chest. On the 9th December, 1949, the applicant by letter informed the matron of the Hospital of the accident and on the 8th February, 1951, she instituted proceedings in the Circuit Court claiming compensation under the Workmen's Compensation Act, 1934, in respect of her...