FOR the hundreds of people who bought timeshares in Knocktopher Abbey in Co Kilkenny in the late 1980s, it seemed almost a dream come true.

Set on 17 acres of parkland, the 14th-century Carmelite monastery, rebuilt in Gothic style in the 1850s after a fire, promised elegant, historical living for a snip. Owning a share of a flat without the onus of upkeep costs seemed the ideal solution for Irish Americans planning to spend a week or two in the old sod every year.

For about €5,000 in today’s money, owners were given a fixed week in one of the rambling pile’s self-contained apartments or converted stables on a 99-year-lease. All they had to do was pay an annual maintenance fee equivalent to a few hundred euros.

Two decades later, an unholy row is brewing at the abbey. Advertisements have recently appeared in Irish newspapers offering the stately property for sale at €3.5m through its owner Seasons Estates, a subsidiary of Seasons Holidays, one of the largest timeshare companies in Britain. However, the 300 or so American and Irish timeshare holders say they still have a claim to the property which is “for sale with vacant possession”.

When it opened in 1984, the then family-run business was described as “one of the finest timeshare developments in Europe”. Initially, buyers were satisfied with their investment but when Seasons took over that changed.

Mark Hoey, an Irish-American, bought a fixed week in 1988 for the equivalent of €5,700 on a 99-year lease. His brother Paul and father Frank, now deceased, also bought timeshares. Then the abbey was affiliated with Resort Condominiums International (RCI), which allowed him to trade his week with timeshare owners around the world. When Seasons took over in the late 1990s he was told he was no longer allowed to trade with RCI members. If he wanted to swap with other timeshare holders he would have to join Seasons.

“I felt like I was being railroaded into joining a company I knew nothing about,” said Hoey.

Others complain that the company did not hold AGMs and increased the management fee by more than the rate of inflation, which broke their agreement. “Since Seasons took over, it has been a horror story,” said Maureen Marcoux from Florida. “Almost every item in our lease has been violated. There have been no annual meetings and the maintenance fee has gone up every year. We’re now taking legal action and have sent suitcases full of documentation to a solicitor in Kilkenny.”

“They raised the maintenance fees so that we would switch over to their club,” said Marilyn Boss, an Irish- American from Orlando, Florida. “If you joined their club, it was made quite clear that the maintenance fees would be much lower. They eventually forced me out of my original 99-year lease.”

Some refused to pay the higher charges. Paul Hoey, a civil engineer from Massachusetts, said: “Our lease stated that the management fee was never meant to exceed the Irish consumer price index, but it rose from €215 to almost €700 in the space of a few years. That’s why it hasn’t been paid.”

Hoey has not received a bill for management fees in over a year and is unsure as to the status of his ownership. “I suspect that Seasons, in effect, has invalidated my lease, although I don’t know on what grounds,” he says.

Seasons Holidays, based in Bristol, took over Knocktopher Abbey in 1998. Leslie McCann, a director, said the maintenance fee had to be increased because the abbey was “falling to pieces”.

McCann concedes that many timeshare holders’ leases have been dissolved without their knowledge. “There are quite a few members who haven’t paid management fees for about five years now. Their contracts have been terminated. If you don’t pay your costs, you don’t get invited to the AGM or have a say about the future of the property. We don’t force people to pay their maintenance fees, unlike some other timeshare companies,” he said.

The new owner will have “free and clear title” said McCann despite the claims of timeshare owners. “At one stage there were almost 300 leaseholders but there are only 16 genuine owners left,” he said, “so the abbey is already almost entirely owned and paid for by Seasons.” McCann believes the remaining leaseholders will “see sense” and allow Seasons to dispose of the property.

Eamon Clancy, 59, from Lucan, Co Dublin, was one of several leaseholders who convened their own AGM last year and was elected to represent the group. “I believe that all those who hold deeds are still owners,” said Clancy. “They could be stripped of their ownership for non-payment of fees but the rules state that there is a procedure for stripping people of their ownership; it has to be ratified by other owners at an AGM and Seasons would never hold an AGM.”

Seasons Holidays has been in dispute with customers before. In 2000, the company was prosecuted twice by British trading standards officials and was ordered to pay fines and costs totalling €17,500, and in 2002, it admitted misleading British clients about holiday prices and was fined €20,000.

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