SIX STAINED GLASS windows by the legendary artist Harry Clarke are the property of the owners of the building housing Bewley’s Café, rather than the café itself, the Supreme Court ruled today.
Irish businessman and property developer Johnny Ronan’s company RGRE Grafton Limited has been embroiled in a legal battle over the ownership of the windows with Bewley’s Café for several years.
The six windows were designed for Bewley’s Café by Clarke in 1927 and completed in 1928. They have an estimated value of €1m. Crucially, the windows can be removed from the building and have been moved on occasion.
Although Bewley’s previously owned and occupied the building, in 1987 the property was sold to Royal Insurance, which leased the building back to the café.
The building was later sold once again and its ownership ended up with The Ronan Group. Bewley’s has been the only tenant since 1927.
The debate on the ownership of the windows arose at the end of 2020. Bewley’s Café on Grafton Street agreed to transfer ownership of the windows, among other assets, to its parent company Bewley’s Limited.
Alamy Stock Photo
Alamy Stock Photo
In exchange the parent company would grant the individual café a license to continue to showcase the windows. However, the Ronan Group challenged the validity of the transfer, stating that the windows, as part of the building, were not the property of the café.
Bewley’s argued that the windows were commissioned by Ernest Bewley almost 100 years ago for the café while he owned the building, and that the windows were actually pieces of artwork rather than structurally integral to the building.
The Ronan Group argued that the windows were structurally a part of the building and had lighting and ventilation uses.
A previous High Court ruling said that four of the windows (Four Orders) belonged to the landlord and two (Swan Yard) to the tenant. The basis for this ruling was that the Four Orders were seen to be part of the “external skin” of the building, while the two Swan Yard glass windows were shielded from the outside by clear glass, thus acting as panels.
The ruling today upheld a Court of Appeal ruling that all six windows were in fact part of the structure and belonging to the landlord.
There were also questions around who had paid for the windows at the time of their construction, due to the £460 cost being paid in cash. Bewley’s could not prove that it was the tenant company that had paid for the windows rather than Ernest Bewley himself.
