County Cork shootings inquest returns unlawful killing and suicide verdicts

The bodies of Diarmuid O'Sullivan, 23, Mark O'Sullivan, 26, and their father Tadg O'Sullivan, 59, were found in October 2020

The jury at the inquest into the death of Mark O'Sullivan in County Cork has returned a verdict of unlawful killing.

It was recorded that both his brother Diarmuid and father Tadg took their own lives.

The bodies of the three men were discovered outside Kanturk in October 2020.

The inquest heard Mark O'Sullivan, 26, was shot seven times. Diarmuid and Tadg each died of a single gunshot wound.

North Cork Coroner Dr Michael Kennedy offered his condolences and said it was hard to make sense of what happened.

The killing related to a dispute over who would inherit the farm belonging to Anne O'Sullivan, the mother of Mark and Diarmuid, and Tadg's wife.

The Coroner's Court in Mallow was told that in a letter found in his mother Anne's pharmacy bag, Mark admitted he feared for his mother's and his own life.

Mark's body was found in a bedroom at the family's home at Raheen, near Kanturk, on the morning of 26 October 2020, after his mother had fled the farmhouse to raise the alarm.

A major police operation was launched and shortly after 13:30 local time, the bodies of his younger brother Diarmuid and his father were spotted about 500m from the house.

Bad feeling

Assistant state pathologist Dr Margaret Bolster told the court Mark O'Sullivan had gunshot wounds to his chest and head, and defensive shots to his right arm.

The cause of death was traumatic brain injury with extensive lacerations to the lung and liver due to multiple gunshot wounds.

Dr Bolster said Diarmuid and Tadg each died of traumatic brain injury due to a single gunshot wound.

Letters had been found on both bodies.

The court heard Anne O'Sullivan, who died earlier this year, confided in her cousin Louise Sherlock that all the bad feeling between the four had started with her diagnosis of terminal cancer in February 2020 and pressure from her younger son and husband to make a will leaving her family farm to the youngest son.

The scene of the shootings at Raheen, near Kanturk, in October 2020

In a series of interviews given to gardaí (Irish police) before her death, Mrs O'Sullivan recalled waking that morning and seeing her husband and Diarmuid standing in the doorway of Mark's bedroom with guns.

She screamed "Oh my God what have you done" and they both fired another shot.

In harrowing detail, she described how they smashed her and Mark's phones, and changed the gate lock so that she could not escape.

Mrs O'Sullivan managed to slip away across the field to a neighbour's house where she raised the alarm.

'Eyes bulging'

She told gardaí her family farm was never an issue in their marriage.

Her husband had inherited his family farm at Cecilstown and both had remained in their own names.

The court heard Mrs O'Sullivan wanted to split her farm 50/50 between the boys, as Diarmuid was to inherit his father's farm.

But in July 2020, relationships began to become increasingly strained.

Diarmuid told her she could leave 30 acres and the house to Mark, but he wanted the remainder.

Mrs O'Sullivan told him the split had to be equal.

She recalled an incident in which she described Tadg's "eyes bulging out of his head and that he kept on going on about the land".

"He was very agitated and angry," the court heard.

He told her he only married her to better himself.