Man who damaged window in long-running dispute over fallen tree to ‘sell up and move on’

A man in his 50s who threw stones at his neighbour’s window in a row over a fallen tree following Storm Éowyn earlier this year has told a court of his plan to “sell up and move on”.

John Joe Bartley (55) with an address at Ranaghan, Castlepollard, Westmeath, pleaded guilty to causing €300 worth of damage to his victim’s window following an incident on January 31, 2025.

Mr Bartley was also charged with trespassing on his neighbour’s property at Ranaghan, Castlepollard, Westmeath, during the same incident, and his solicitor Louis Kiernan informed last week’s sitting of Mullingar District Court that the outstanding bill now stood at almost €1,000.

Mr Kiernan said the accused had paid over the balance in full, which amounted to an overall total of €993.

In doing so, he asked the court to reserve its judgement on recording a criminal conviction for the accompanying trespass charge.

That, he said, was largely due to Mr Bartley’s previous good character, the way he had met the case and by virtue of his decision to move away from what was a long running neighbourly dispute.

“Unfortunately there had been tension between these two neighbours,” he said, indicating he would not be delving any further as to its genesis.

“It was about cutting down a tree and Mr Bartley has never been in trouble in his life before,” he said.

“Mr Bartley cut it down because it was dangerous and it was partially pushed back into a space.

“There was an argument and Mr Bartley went on to the other gentleman’s property. He accepts that and when he wasn’t getting a response, the damage occurred to the window – which he has paid for.”

Mr Kiernan confirmed it was in that context that the trespass incident occurred and his client is currently readying plans to relocate, which is due to happen in 2027.

“It was a classic situation of high walls making good neighbours and unfortunately there have been issues for a number of years between the parties,” he added.

Mr Kiernan said both his client and his estranged neighbour were continuing to steer clear of one another, a situation Judge Owens was told would continue for the foreseeable future.

Giving her take on that submission, Sgt Sheila Kenny said gardaí were open to whatever the court decided and suggested adjourning the case for six months.

Judge Owens agreed to that proposal and remanded Mr Bartley on continuing bail to Mullingar District Court on May 14, 2026.

She said if there were no further issues between the two parties, the court “may be persuaded” to stop short of recording a criminal conviction against the accused.