An estate of 29 modular homes built without planning permission in scenic Brittas, Co. Dublin, must be demolished, the High Court has ruled.

Judge Richard Humphreys’s decision comes just as the couple whose illegally built Meath mansion was demolished in March confirmed they are bringing a fresh court application challenging the actions of Meath County Council.

Judge Humphreys handed down his judgment yesterday in the case of the lands located at Chianti Park, Mount Seskin Road, Raheen.

He described it as a ‘particularly egregious case of disregard of planning law’, noting the local council had accused the developers of ‘gaslighting on a monumental scale’.

This was because the developers attempted to argue that the block-built homes were ‘in essence, the same structure’ as the mobile homes previously on the site.

He observed even those mobile homes were not protected by a planning permission granted in 1972, allowing for a limited number of caravans, which should have been removed by 1973.

Judge Humphreys said matters were not improved by the fact the unauthorised works had occurred in a highly sensitive setting, while the local development plan had sought to protect and enhance the outstanding natural character of the Dublin Mountains area.

‘Nor is the situation made better by the almost unbelievable chutzpah of the developers who even now claim “innocent mistake”, even though they ignored or deflected warning letters and intensified construction of the unauthorised development in the teeth of interventions from the council and residents and during the course of proceedings before the Circuit Court,’ he said.

‘This is as far from innocence as you can get – this was an attempt to create a fait accompli with a view to turning around and defiantly asking the system, in effect, “What are you going to do about it?”

‘I suppose, like many other people who defy planning law, the respondents are now going to find out.’

Respondents are developer Branach Developments Ltd, with a registered address at Thomastown, Caragh, Kildare, and site owners responsible for the development, Mullnassa Limited and Threshford Limited, with registered addresses at Rock Road, Blackrock, Dublin.

South Dublin County Council told the court the site had provoked a series of complaints from mid-August 2025, when works began, to mid-September 2025.