Man (35) charged with murder of brother at Kerry cemetery

‘I didn’t harm my brother at all in any way,’ Patrick Dooley told gardaí when charged

Thomas Dooley was killed in an attack at a funeral in Tralee
Thomas Dooley was killed in an attack at a funeral in Tralee

A man (35) has been remanded in custody after he was charged with the murder of his brother while attending a funeral in a graveyard in Co Kerry earlier this week.

Patrick Dooley, a father of one from Arbutus Grove, Killarney, was brought before Kenmare District Court this morning and charged with the murder of Thomas Dooley (43) on October 5th.

Patrick Dooley was charged over the incident at New Cemetery, Rathass, Tralee, on Wednesday contrary to common law

Det Sgt Mark O’Sullivan gave evidence of arrest charge and caution and told the court that Patrick Dooley replied to the charge: “I didn’t harm my brother at all in any way — that is all I have to say.”

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Sgt Miriam Mulhall Nolan told Judge David Waters that gardaí were seeking to have the accused remanded in custody to appear at Tralee District Court by video link on October 12th.

Defence solicitor Padraig O’Connell said his client accepted that he could not apply for bail on a murder charge at district court level and he accepted the remand in custody to Tralee District Court.

However, Mr O’Connell requested that his client, whose hand was heavily bandaged, would receive all necessary medical attention for his physical injuries while on remand in prison.

Judge Waters granted the State application, and he remanded Patrick Dooley in custody to appear again on the murder charge at Tralee District Court on October 12th by video link.

Mr Dooley’s father, James, and his wife, Bridget, were in court for the brief hearing before the accused was led from the courthouse amid tight Garda security to a waiting police wagon.

Gardaí investigating the murder of Thomas Dooley, a father of seven, are continuing to question a man (41) at Tralee Garda station following his arrest in Cork on Thursday.

Barry Roche

Barry Roche

Barry Roche is Southern Correspondent of The Irish Times