Hedgerows Ireland’s video helps secure Coolmore Fined Hedgerow Destruction conviction

Alan Moore and his daughter Holly Moore recorded workers cutting through old hedges near New Inn in south Tipperary. Their footage was played in court, where coolmore fined hedgerow destruction ended in a €100, 000 penalty and four criminal convictions for a Coolmore company.

Alan and Holly Moore at Ballygerald East, and a ‘vast’ removal

When a Department of Agriculture inspector visited Ballygerald East in October 2022, the work under way had already bitten deep into the landscape. The lands, owned by JP Magnier and Kate Wachman, children of Coolmore Stud owner John Magnier, showed long lines where hedgerows had been taken out. Evidence before the court later described the removal as “vast, ” with 1. 15km of hedges cleared.

Senior inspector Imogen McGuinness told the court the hedges were “of considerable vintage, ” likely planted between 1700 and 1800. Mixed species ran through them, the kind that provide “valuable biodiversity and wildlife habitats. ” The inspection found two clay banks remaining, stripped of their hedges but still rich with roots and “significant biodiversity, ” the kind of material that could have helped regenerate what was lost.

Hedgerows Ireland — the group whose complaint prompted the investigation — had provided some of the photographic and video evidence. Alan Moore and Holly Moore’s footage from the site helped fix the facts. The group welcomed the convictions that followed but said higher penalties would be a “greater deterrent” against unlawful hedgerow destruction.

Clonmel Circuit Court, Judge Deirdre Browne, and the €100, 000 fine

At Clonmel Circuit Court, Judge Deirdre Browne set the fine for Shem Drowne Ltd, a company within the wider Coolmore organisation, at €100, 000. She noted she could have imposed fines totaling €1 million for the four offences but considered mitigating factors: a guilty plea and no previous convictions, describing the company as a “corporate entity of good character. ”

Two of the offences involved removing hedges without first checking whether an environmental impact assessment screening was required. Under the regulations, anyone seeking to remove more than 500m of hedgerow or to create a field larger than five hectares must consult the department for screening. No such application was made. it was not aware of the regulations, the court heard.

The other two offences involved breaching prohibition notices. After the October 2022 inspection, Coolmore farm manager Joe Houlihan was contacted by phone and told to stop the work, with a notice to follow barring the destruction of the two clay banks. At a meeting in January 2023, Houlihan asked a department inspector if the banks could be removed, and he was “specifically told he could not. ” Yet by October 2023, inspectors found the 360m of clay banks had been levelled with diggers, causing a “negative impact to the environment, ” and a notice of breach was served.

The judge heard submissions from the company’s barrister on sentencing for what was described as the first recorded case of its kind in the State under European Union environmental laws. In delivering the penalty, the court balanced the acknowledged failures against the cooperation and clear record presented by Shem Drowne Ltd.

Coolmore Fined Hedgerow Destruction and custodians of the land

Judge Browne framed the offences as acts against the wider community, saying landowners are “custodians of the land. ” For Hedgerows Ireland, the outcome — coolmore fined hedgerow destruction with a €100, 000 penalty — landed between vindication and concern. The convictions were welcomed; the size of the fine, they said, fell short of the stronger deterrent they sought.

What unfolded on lands in Ballygerald East shows how environmental rules reach from legal texts into fields and hedges. The numbers are specific: 1. 15km of historic hedgerows removed; 360m of clay banks later levelled; more than 500m the threshold that triggers a screening check under the regulations. The court also noted that Shem Drowne sits within the broader Coolmore organisation, underlining responsibility at the organizational level as well as on the ground.

Back on the roadside near New Inn, the human measure of the case is still the footage captured by Alan and Holly Moore — a record of what changed in Tipperary’s fields and what the law now requires of those who work them. With the convictions entered and the €100, 000 fine imposed, the court’s decision sets the marker that will define any future steps for the company and for those watching how hedgerows are treated across the county.