While Tom Mannion quietly shows the Sunday Independent photographer around the 547 sqm castle he built as a family home, he becomes emotional.
e had plans to develop a medieval village as a tourist attraction in the courtyard of the castle with 110 windows built with imported Italian marble and a team of Polish builders. Galway City Council said its proposed home was “unusual”, but in 2000 gave permission for the planning of the castle with a limestone front.
The centerpiece of the next phase of development in Doughiska, east of Galway city, was a town hall that Mannion wanted to make available to people raising funds for charity.
However, his dream turned into a nightmare when Bank of Scotland (Ireland) (BoSI) in 2009 obtained a possession order on the partially completed castle over his unpaid debt.
Mannion, a former hotelier and developer, maintains the possession order was improperly obtained and his former lawyer wrongly agreed that his family home be offered to pay off debt.
He continued to live in the castle, even when BoSI sold its stake in the property to Feniton, a vulture fund set up by the US fund CarVal. Mannion was evicted on April 6, 2017 after security personnel who worked for Feniton’s receivers KPMG blocked the gate. From the top of the 3.5-meter walls, security personnel told him he could not enter.
On April 17, Feniton sold the castle to Ardan Opportunities, a mysterious company that refuses to disclose who owns it. It put a caretaker, Alexander Garzila, a two-meter-long former security guard and casino manager, to live there. He is the reason why Mannion the Sunday Independent to “keep it quiet”.
Mannion should not really be here.
On the morning of January 28, 2019, accompanied by his friend and anti-eviction campaigner Dan Lannon, he “resumed” part of the castle by “walking in” and waking Garzila from his slumber.
A religious man, Mannion, 63, has since lived in the west wing where he has access to the small internal chapel. Garzila lives in the eastern wing. Despite Gardaí being called initially, Ardan did not prevent Mannion from coming and going.
However, it sued to ban him permanently from the castle.
Last week, Mr. Judge Conor Dignam heard the last three days of a five-day trial that began in February. Ardan wants a serious trespass against Mannion and an order to stop him from re-entering the castle or “defaming” its title. It does not cause damage.
Although Mannion insists that Ardan obtained “his” castle through “fraud”, the only part of Mannion’s counter-action allowed by the judge is a claim of € 250,000 as compensation for the damage and disappearance of his property in the castle.
Artwork, crystal, clothing, white goods and jewelery have either disappeared or been damaged since its eviction.
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Tom Mannion pictured inside the castle. Photo by Gerry Mooney
Anthony McBride SC, for Ardan, told the Supreme Court he had a “great deal of sympathy” with Mannion who was going through a “traumatic” time. He is clearly “a man of deep faith” and “not given to violence”. However, he “can not get it in his head that he is no longer the owner of the property”, he said.
McBride called Garzila as a witness when the case began. Despite living in the castle with Mannion, he said he had not seen him in years as they kept away from each other.
He said he was shocked to see Mannion and Lannon arrive at his room in January 2019. They called him a thief and a drug user and threatened to sort him out as they claimed Mannion was the castle’s real owner.
Evidence has been provided that Lannon referred to the attack on security men who had occupied a repossessed home in Strokestown just weeks earlier. McBride said this threatening reference justifies Ardan’s claim for aggravating trespass.
In evidence, Mannion said he was shocked by the condition of his belongings when he entered the castle. He said he was upset to see that his daughter’s communion dress and inscribed prayer books that his mother had given him had been burned.
“These boys were up to no good,” Mannion said. “They used my chapel for the dog. When I went back I had to put a lock on the chapel’s door to stop them from putting the dog in. Some guy went in one direction and the dog did his business. ”
He decided to re-enter after his neighbors told him that “wild parties” were being held in the castle. I found evidence that up to 10 people slept on the ground in one room and chopped up a “heap of razor blades” for good.
Mannion said although some people may have “a barn” as a house, he decided to build his house “a little differently”.
“I was able to build a beautiful and convenient castle on my own time and it was a great achievement for myself,” he said.
“I had lots of plans, but it makes no sense to talk to anyone. I was there to help people and I helped the homeless and now I am homeless myself. ”
Mannion’s side has sued three former or current directors of Ardan as witnesses. All three said they do not know who the ultimate owner of the company is.
Paul McGreevy, a real estate consultant who was an Ardan director with his sister Nollaig, a teacher, when the company bought the house, said he helped include Ardan as a favor to Ronan Daly. an accountant.
McGreevy said he traded with Daly while working for the buyer of Oranmore Mall, which acquired Nama Center and developer Michael McDonagh.
Asked if McDonagh owns Ardan, McGreevy said he did not know.
Another former Ardan director, John Slattery, said he was asked by McDonagh to be a director. He was paid € 5,000 for the role.
The only current director is John Folan, an electrician who said he took up the role after being asked by Garzila.
The court had to stand up for 35 minutes last Thursday when Mr Justice Dignam became concerned that Folan, who was wearing a mask after being ill on Wednesday, could have Covid.
Although Folan said he had Covid before and believed he could not get it again, the judge recommended that he get an antigen test. After a negative result, Folan returned to the witness stand.
He said he did not know or care who owned Ardan. He maintained that he had nothing to do with the management of the company’s business, even though he was the sole director of it.
He said he took over because he believed Slattery was “intimidated”. But “I have no wife or children to worry about”. He was a “copper plate” director.
Mr McBride closed the case for Ardan, saying the case for granting orders banning Mannion from the castle was clear. There was no challenge to his client’s ownership. He assumed it would have been better if Ardan had taken an inventory of all possessions in the castle, but maintained that Ardan could not be held liable for any damage.
He said Mannion did not make a serious effort to get his property back. Although the evidence about Ardan’s ownership could make lawyers “cry”, it was not relevant to the issues, he said.
Andrew Robinson, for Mannion, said the fact that a family home is run by an “opaque company” is relevant to the court’s discretionary powers to make fair legal action.
Mr Justice Dignam reserved judgment in the case.
a tearful Mannion spoke outside court and said he was glad he fought the case because of the evidence that emerged. He said he knows of others who lost their homes during the economic collapse and died by suicide without challenging the banks or vulture funds.