Sixth defendant guilty of murder during funeral

The victim was attacked by a gang at Rath Cemetery in County Kerry in 2022

A sixth person has been convicted of a murdering a funeral mourner during a graveyard service in County Kerry.

The victim, Thomas Dooley, was assaulted by a gang wielding bladed weapons at Rath Cemetery on 5 October 2022.

The 42-year old father-of-seven died after sustaining severe stab and chop wounds.

His cousin Daniel Dooley, from An Carraigín, Connolly Park in Tralee, was found guilty by a majority verdict on Thursday.

The seven-week trial at the Central Criminal Court in Cork heard that the victim was targeted by the gang after his daughter refused to marry one of the defendants.

Five of the six men who were convicted of the murder were related to the dead man.

Widow testified against killers

The remaining convict was a teenager who has not been identified due to his age.

The guilty men included the victim's younger brother, Patrick Dooley, from Arbutus Grove in Killarney.

The others who took part in the murder were the victim's brother-in-law Thomas Dooley senior; his cousin, 21-year-old Thomas Dooley junior, both from Bay 10, Halting Site, Carrigrohane Road, Cork, and 29-year-old Michael Dooley of Bay 11 at the same halting site.

The victim's wife, Siobhan Dooley, was also attacked in the graveyard and she gave evidence against the defendants during the trial.

She testified that the problems began in 2019 when one of her daughters refused to marry Thomas Dooley junior and ended her relationship with him.

She told the trial that Thomas Dooley junior - who was a teenager at the time of the killing - was holding an axe-like weapon over his head in the cemetery in a scene that looked a like something out of a film.

She said Thomas Dooley junior attacked her as well as her late husband.

In addition to finding Thomas Dooley junior guilty of the murder last week, the jury also convicted him of assaulting Siobhán Dooley, causing her harm.

Mrs Dooley also told the trial that her late husband's brother Patrick Dooley, who is now 36 years old, was grinning as he took part in the murder.

The five men are due to be sentenced next week. while the teenager's case has been adjourned until October.