A TOTAL of five men have been found guilty by a jury at the Central Criminal Court in Cork of the murder of Thomas Dooley, at a funeral in Tralee, Co. Kerry (42). The killing occurred in October, 2022.
The jury returned unanimous guilty verdicts in the cases of five men. Patrick Dooley (36), of Arbutus Grove, Killarney, Co. Kerry, was the younger brother of the deceased man and found guilty by the jury.
The jury also found the dead man's brother-in-law, 43-year-old Thomas Dooley senior, and his cousin, 21-year-old Thomas Dooley junior, both of Bay 10, Halting Site, Carrigrohane, Cork, guilty of the murder of Thomas Dooley.
Michael Dooley, 29, of Bay 11, Halting Site, Carrigrohane Road, Cork, was similarly found guilty of the murder.
The jury also found a male teenager guilty of murder. He cannot be named as he is a minor.
There have been emotional outbursts in the court as verdicts have been delivered.
When Michael Dooley was pronounced guilty, he protested his innocence in court.
"There is no justice here. I am an innocent man going to prison for nothing," Michael Dooley said.
Ms Justice Mary Ellen Ring said if there were submissions to be made, they should be made through lawyers.
A guilty verdict was also returned in the case of Thomas Dooley junior on a count of assaulting the deceased's wife, Siobhan Dooley, causing her harm.
Thomas Dooley was killed at New Rath Cemetery, Rathass, Tralee on October 5, 2022. Mr Dooley, the deceased, was living in Killarney in Co. Kerry at the time of his death. He had been in the cemetery with his wife and four of his children aged 15, 12, 10 and 8 to attend a burial when the fracas broke out. He was the father of seven children
The court heard evidence from 85 witnesses in total over the course of the trial. The court heard that Mr Dooley and his wife attended the funeral with their four youngest children to the funeral of their friend Bridget O’Brien in Tralee.
Mr Dooley was set upon by a group of six armed men and sustained injuries from which he died. The jury heard that he suffered severe stab wounds - one of which severed an artery - and a chop wound to his arm.
