About Mary Molloy Solicitors

Defamation Law Where It Meets Real Life

Irish defamation law online is written about newspapers and the famous: the High Court jury, the six-figure award, the national broadcaster. That is not the defamation most people meet. Ours is the local Facebook group that named the wrong person; the one-star review written by someone who was never a customer; the shop that announced an accusation at the till; the reference that cost someone the job; the ex-colleague on WhatsApp; the anonymous account that will not stop. In 2024 the Circuit Court heard 228 defamation cases to the High Court’s 61, and the Defamation (Amendment) Act 2026 was written for exactly that volume work: a declaratory order without damages, a correction order, an identification order against the platform, and a duty on every solicitor to consider the Press Council or a right of reply before issuing. Those clients need the same Defamation Act the big cases use — explained plainly, under the law as it stands since 1 March 2026, with the evidence and the one-year deadline first.

The practice is led by Richard O’Shea, a solicitor whose litigation work runs through exactly these disputes — and who holds a Diploma in Mediation from the Law Society of Ireland. In this field the credential is now structural: section 34K of the Defamation Act, in force since March 2026, obliges every solicitor to inform the client of the specified alternative dispute resolution options before issuing and to file a statutory declaration saying so, and most Circuit Court defamation claims settle before hearing. A mediator’s training changes how the file is run: toward the correction, the apology and the removal that most clients actually want, with proceedings prepared in full so that the settlement is honest.

How We Run a Defamation Claim

Evidence first: the screenshots with the URL, date and time visible, the account name, who saw or shared it, the receipt or incident report for a shop accusation, the reference or email for a workplace matter — because defamation claims are decided on exactly what was said and to whom, and that evidence disappears fast. Honest analysis second: whether the words are defamatory and of you, which defences the other side will raise, whether a company can show serious harm, and whether a letter, a Press Council complaint, a Circuit Court declaratory order or a High Court action fits the case and the budget. And the clock always: one year from first publication, two at the absolute outside, with the period suspended only while a specified ADR procedure runs. The first consultation always establishes which clocks are running on you.

We act for individuals and small businesses who have been defamed, and for people who have received a defamation letter or claim. We never act for both sides of the same dispute. Where a workplace defamation sits beside a dismissal, our sister site at unfairdismissalsolicitor.ie covers the dismissal; where a business defamation sits beside a shareholder or director dispute, companysolicitor.ie covers the company side.

Our Offices

Dublin: The Ormond Building, 31-36 Ormond Quay Upper, Dublin 7 (D07 EE37). Kilkenny: 2 Rose Inn Street (R95 W58D). Defamation claims run on documents, phone, Zoom and email, so we act nationwide. Call 01 5827148 or see the contact page. Our consultation fee and the way work after it is quoted are set out on the fees page.

Talk Through What Was Said

One consultation: whether the words are actionable, the defences you will face, the realistic routes and the one-year clock running on you.