Ireland

Jury begins deliberations in trial of six men accused of murdering man at Kerry funeral

Father-of-seven Thomas Dooley was killed in Rath Cemetery in Tralee in 2022

Thomas Dooley snr and his wife, Siobhán told the jury: 'I knew that they were going to do harm when I saw the weapons'
Wed Jul 17 2024 - 16:53

A jury at the Central Criminal Court has begun its deliberations in the case of six men accused of the murder of a father of seven during a funeral in Co Kerry two years ago.

The jury of 10 men and two women trying the case of the six men, who have denied the murder of Thomas Dooley (43) in Rath Cemetery in Tralee on October 5th, 2022, have heard evidence from 85 witnesses during the 34-day trial at the Central Criminal Court sitting in Cork.

The accused are Patrick Dooley (39) of Arbutus Grove, Killarney; Daniel Dooley (42) of An Carraigin, Connolly Park, Tralee; Thomas Dooley snr (43); Thomas Dooley jnr (21); and Michael Dooley (29) of Carrigrohane Road, Cork; and a teenager who cannot be named for legal reasons.

The deceased’s widow, Siobhán Dooley, told the trial how she and her husband and their four youngest children had travelled from their home in Killarney to attend the funeral of their friend Bridget O’Brien in Tralee, where her husband was attacked by a group of six armed men.

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Ms Dooley said her husband and their three sons were a few steps ahead of her and her daughter as they entered the cemetery when she saw some men ahead. She recognised her husband’s brother Patrick and his brother-in-law and cousin Thomas Dooley snr.

There were two other men behind them who she recognised as Michael and Daniel Dooley.

“They were actually grinning – Tom [Thomas Dooley snr] was wearing a long coat to down below his knees, he was taking off his coat, he took it off casually and hung it on a headstone. I could see he had something in his hand,” she said.

Her husband’s brother-in-law Thomas snr was carrying two weapons as he approached her husband. “One was shiny and looked to be new, the other had a bit of rust on it – one had a round top, the other was a big chunk of a yoke – I had never seen weapons like them before,” Ms Dooley said.

“I said to my husband ‘run’ and he turned to me and said ‘Run? Run for what – I have nothing to run for,’” said Ms Dooley, adding that she then turned and saw Thomas Dooley jnr and the accused teenager approaching from the gate of the cemetery.

She said Thomas jnr was standing behind one of her sons and was about to swing a weapon at him, but she pushed her son out of the way and he ended up hitting her and cutting her under the arm.

“I knew that they were going to do harm when I saw the weapons, I tried to squeeze in between them and my husband but there was no hope – all I could do was start scraping Tom’s [Thomas Dooley snr] face and eyes with my nails to get him away from my husband.”

Ms Justice Mary Ellen Ring finished her charge to the jury shortly after 10.30am, following earlier closing submissions by Mr Kelly for the State and by counsel for the six accused.

Before sending the jury out to begin their deliberations, Ms Justice Ring asked them to be unanimous in their verdict. “Over to you at this stage,” she told them.