The father of a woman killed by her uncle in a hit-and-run incident in Rathkeale, Co Limerick, has said his family’s lives “changed forever” when she died.
Marguerita O’Rourke (21) died after Danny O’Donoghue (43) deliberately drove his van into a set of steel gates she was standing behind, his sentencing hearing at Limerick Circuit Criminal Court heard on Wednesday.
O’Donoghue immediately drove away from the scene in Rathkeale. One minute later, while armed with a machete, he set upon another relative, Patrick Sheridan. The court heard O’Donoghue was coming down from alcohol and cocaine and had left his home in a rage after an argument with his wife.
Ms O’Rourke had given birth to her first child, Edward, three weeks prior to her death, the court heard.
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In mitigation, O’Donoghue’s barrister, senior counsel John Bowman, argued the defendant was “unaware” his niece had been standing behind the 8ft 6in gates when he slammed into them at 12.03pm on December 21st, 2024.
“It is a tragedy of epic and enormous proportions on all of the families involved,” Mr Bowman said.
Ms O’Rourke was sent backwards in the impact and never regained consciousness.
Paramedics kept Ms O’Rourke alive as they transferred her by ambulance to University Hospital Limerick. However, she was pronounced dead four hours later.
A loud bang from the impact, followed by Ms O’Rourke’s mother’s screams at the scene, echoed through the courtroom as gardaí played CCTV footage of the fatal ramming.
Ms O’Rourke’s mother, Margaret Sheridan, was only a few feet away across the street when the impact occurred.
Detective Garda Elaine O’Keeffe told the court that due to ongoing “tensions” between families in Rathkeale, ramming of property had “become the norm”. She said Ms Sheridan was not overly concerned until she went to the gates and realised her daughter was lying critically injured on the ground.
Ms Sheridan identified her brother as the driver of the van to gardaí.
The court heard O’Donoghue had no issue with his niece, but there were regular tensions between feuding parties linked to their families, who were all inter-related through marriage.
The deceased’s husband, Denis O’Rourke, who was not present at the hearing, wrote in a victim-impact statement, which was read in court on his behalf: “Whatever feud existed between our families, nothing could excuse what [O’Donoghue] did.
“This was an attempt to terrorise my entire family and it was intimidation designed to keep us living in fear.”
The victim’s father, John Sheridan, who was not in court, wrote in a victim-impact statement that his daughter’s death has had “a profound and devastating effect” on his family.
“Marguerita was a kind, loving, wonderful daughter, and she was a natural mother to her little son, Edward, who was born in the UK,” he said. “She couldn’t wait to bring him home to us for Christmas.
“It was going to be such a joyous time for us. Instead, we had to face the horrendous reality of her death.”
Mr Sheridan added: “We urge the court to impose a sentence on the accused who used his vehicle as a weapon of destruction to cause fatal injuries to our daughter.
“Holding the accused accountable is important to my wife and me, but it is also important to our community.”
O’Donoghue, of Lower Main Street, Rathkeale, handed himself in to gardaí two days after the fatal ramming after learning he had killed his niece.
He pleaded guilty to dangerous driving causing death, criminal damage, producing a machete during the course of a dispute and failing to remain at the scene of a collision.
A previous charge of O’Donoghue making a threat to kill or cause serious harm to Patrick Sheridan was taken into consideration.
O’Donghue later stated in a letter to his sister, the victim’s mother: “It’s all my fault, I’m so sorry from the bottom of my heart. I’m the person who did this terrible sin, it makes me sick to my stomach.”
O’Donoghue had six previous convictions, including for dangerous driving, careless driving, disorderly conduct and failing to comply with a Garda’s directions. He also previously caused minor bodily harm in Germany in March, 2023, for which he was fined €330.
Judge Colin Daly said he had much to consider and remanded O’Donoghue in continuing custody to appear before the court again for sentencing on January 21, 2026.
