STATEMENT

Community Rights Win Protection

We are delighted to announce that the legal case taken by Port of Cork Company, claiming that no public Right of Way existed and that members of the public were trespassing on Deepwater Quay, has ended.

The court has ruled, and Port of Cork Company now acknowledge, that a public Right of Way does in fact exist, going from Whitepoint all the way along the Five Foot Way and through Deepwater Quay as far as Westbourne Place (near the Anne Moore statue); efforts to privatise this land have failed.

The proceedings heard how the lands in question were initially dedicated by Lord Midleton who built the first quays and walkways, and how these public rights were later preserved in a series of Acts of Parliament from 1854 to 1884.  These Acts established what was then known as the Five Foot Quay and confirmed that public access continued the full length across what is today referred to as the Five Foot Way and Deepwater Quay.

Our campaign spoke out publicly, we gathered huge support, we did the research ourselves and uncovered undeniable evidence to prove our case – we did this with our own very limited resource.  

It is obvious that Port of Cork Company carried out no due diligence before they initiated these proceedings in November 2019.   The irony is that a state body would drag out legal proceedings over a 7 year period, wasting public money, against citizens who were without resources – this itself is a gross injustice.

We are thankful to the court for a just ruling in this matter and we thank Mr Eoin Brady of FP Logue LLP, solicitors, who took up our case last December.  Mr Brady instructed Peter Leonard BL and John Rogers SC in presenting our case over the final three day hearing which ended yesterday.  We are also thankful to Dr Vandra Costello, probably Ireland’s foremost expert in 18th and 19th century property issues and public rights of way, who further investigated our case and produced an expert report for the hearings.

We are thankful too to the thousands who signed petitions and supported the campaign.

Now, once again, we call on local Council members to do their duty and ensure that this public Right of Way is formally registered and included in the next County Development Plan.

The Right of Way on Deepwater Quay belongs to the people, this is now preserved for future generations.

________________________________________
Diarmuid Cahill,
for Save Cobh’s Right of Way group
www.CobhRightOfWay.net

 23rd July 2026

 

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