The 82-year-old woman at the centre of a court battle to prevent her and her 89-year-old sister from ejection from their home in Blackrock, Co Dublin, will be featured posthumously in a Channel 4 documentary this week. Ms Rose Blackall, who would have been 83 today, died on Sunday.
The Channel 4 series, Battle of Wills on Thursdays at 8 p.m., documents the stories of people devastated by revelations in family wills. The Blackall sisters, Rose and Eileen, were initially successful in blocking the transfer of their home at Marino Park, Blackrock, Dublin, which was the centre of litigation for years, to Chessington Ltd, the development company that bought it for £400,000. The site is believed to be worth millions.
The sisters were joint owners of the property with their sister-in-law, Mrs Iris Blackall, the widow and administrator of their brother Gerald's estate. Their battle had taken them to the Circuit Court, the High Court and the Supreme Court.
In 1997 the Circuit Court ordered the sale of the property for £400,000. Before leaving the court, Chessington's director, Mr John McDonald, signed a contract which stipulated that a £40,000 deposit should be paid. The High Court and Supreme Court affirmed that decision.
The case was put back to the Circuit Court when the solicitor who had been given carriage of sale asked for an order executing the deed of conveyance to the purchaser. The court held that Chessington was in breach of contract - thereby nullifying it - by allowing years to pass before tendering the deposit.
This decision was appealed to the High Court, which held that a contract for sale still existed and ordered that it should be closed within 28 days.
Rose Blackall died at her nephew's home. She will be buried after 10 o'clock Mass tomorrow in the Church of the Assumption, Booterstown.