A school operating from St Mary’s Church Parish Centre in Howth, Co Dublin, has failed to secure a High Court order requiring the Church of Ireland to indemnify it for a €90,000 settlement paid after a three-year-old child suffered facial scars from a bramble. High Court judge Tony O’Connor delivered the judgment, ruling that the representative church body did not breach its common duty of care.
The legal battle stems from an incident on April 19th, 2018, when Cara Faye O’Brien O’Keeffe was playing at Deerpark Montessori school, which operates under a license at the parish centre. According to court records, the child fell into a bramble and sustained lacerations and abrasions to her face. Sued through her father, Mark O’Brien, the child received a settlement previously ruled in 2022 by High Court judge Garrett Simons, who characterized the payout as “very generous” and noted the child suffered “quite nasty injuries” from an unfortunate accident.
Court Details and Findings on the Church’s Duty of Care
In 2024, the school initiated an application seeking an indemnity or contribution toward the settlement from the representative church body of the Church of Ireland. High Court judge Tony O’Connor examined whether the church breached its common duty of care under the Occupiers Liability Act. While the church knew the school intended to enter settlement negotiations, evidence established that the church did not consent to the specific settlement put forward for approval in 2021.
Evidence presented during the proceedings detailed how the incident occurred. A teacher testified that while children watched a worm dig into the earth, she noticed Cara had been injured by a bramble located away from the group. Photographs taken that afternoon identified a single bramble shoot among clematis lining a wall surrounding the play area. Testimony from a strimmer operator indicated the single shoot had only grown out over a few days following garden maintenance carried on behalf of the church on March 24th, 2018.
Did You Know? The court noted that the school operated a daily inspection of the garden area before children began to play, and neither the school’s nor the church’s system of inspection, supervision, and maintenance was criticized during the proceedings.
Legal Rationale and The Question of Reasonableness
Judge O’Connor found that if the bramble shoot had been evident during the March 24th maintenance, the strimmer operator would have tackled it. Because the church maintained the garden well, the judge concluded that expecting the church to spot a single shoot that emerged over a matter of days “tests any sense of reasonableness.” The court ruled that the church could not be expected to alert the school to the potential growth of such a shoot, ultimately dismissing the school’s application for an indemnity or contribution.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who filed the original lawsuit on behalf of the child?
Cara Faye O’Brien O’Keeffe sued through her father, Mark O’Brien.
What was the amount of the child’s settlement?
The settlement was €90,000, which High Court judge Garrett Simons previously described as “very generous” when approving it in 2022.
Why did the school’s indemnity application fail?
High Court judge Tony O’Connor ruled that the church did not breach its common duty of care, finding that the single bramble shoot grew over a few days following proper maintenance and that expecting the church to detect it tested reasonableness.
How might local childcare providers alter their daily garden safety protocols in light of this ruling?