Widow accused of wanting ‘to bring as many Dooleys as possible’ into Kerry murder trial for ‘revenge’

Ray Boland, senior counsel for Michael Dooley, put it to the witness that, in effect, she was saying that she was not in a position to identify everyone present “but you knew in your heart they were there”. 

He also put it to the witness that she had accepted that she identified one man — not charged with any offence — as being involved but it was certain that he was not even in Kerry at the time. She said she misidentified this person because he was like one of the accused.

Mr Boland said she first identified some people and then “decided to drag the others” in as well. The defence senior counsel said: “Mike (Michael Dooley) is here because he went to the funeral to offer his respects to the deceased but he had no hand or part in this, he had no weapon and he didn’t know anything was going to happen. 

“What happened that day is terrible. 

Your seven children have no father to go home to. You, as a result, have a terrible hatred for the Dooleys of the Straight (Carrigrohane) Road in Cork and you want their children to have no father to go home to.

The witness replied: “That is a lie.” 

Mr Boland said: “You want to bring as many Dooleys as possible into it to get revenge on all the Dooleys.” She replied: “No, that is a lie.” 

Brian McInerney, senior counsel for Daniel Dooley, reminded the witness of statements she made identifying a named person who could not have been there at the time. She said she mistook this person for Daniel Dooley because the two men are “an awful lot alike”. 

Mr McInerney said the named man — who is not charged with any offence — “is totally innocent but you recognised him as one of the attackers”. She said: “I mentioned the wrong name.” 

Mr McInerney said: “You mentioned the wrong name or you picked out the wrong fella?” She replied: “I mentioned the wrong name.” 

He asked why she did not correct this matter with the guards when she realised? She replied: “I don’t know. Because my head wasn’t on straight.” 

“To accuse someone in the wrong is a woeful thing to do, a terrible thing to do,” Mr McInerney said. Mrs Dooley replied: “Yes. That is why I apologised to (the man wrongly named).” 

Mr McInerney asked her when she apologised to him. “Yesterday,” she replied, adding, “I am nearly sure I said it.” 

The senior counsel asked: “Have you problems with your memory? Did you apologise to him or not?” She replied: “I am not 100% sure.” 

Mr McInerney said: “You are not 100% sure of a lot of things.” She replied: “I am 100% sure what they did to my husband.” 

Mr McInerney said: “Daniel was in the graveyard paying his respects as were a lot of people. He did not have hand, act or part in what happened to your husband… You are taking the spray paint approach — spray everyone with the paint and that is what you did?” She replied: “No, I did not.” 

Vincent Heneghan senior counsel for Thomas Dooley Jnr. said: “My client did not in any shape or fashion assault your husband or even touch him.” The witness replied that he did. 

Mr Heneghan asked: “Did you see him do it?” She replied: “Them all was in on top of him.” Only 21-year-old Thomas Dooley Jnr faces the second charge that he intentionally or recklessly caused serious harm to Siobhán Dooley, the wife of the deceased man. 

Mr Heneghan put it to Mrs Dooley: “He did not in any shape or fashion assault you either, you are wrong in that?” She replied: “No, I’m not.” 

Jane Hyland, senior counsel for the teenager accused of murder, said that the witness was focused on protecting her children from what was going on that morning and only saw her client in the blink of an eye. 

Ms Hyland said Mrs Dooley could not be sure he had a weapon, which she described earlier as being “an axe thing — something you’d see an Indian with in a film”. The witness said the teenager had the weapon. 

Ms Hyland also accused the witness of spray painting the various accused people. She replied: “No, they were there, they did it.” 

Charge

The trial continues before Ms Justice Mary Ellen Ring at the Central Criminal Court sitting in Cork. The jury, including three substitute members, consists of 13 men and two women.

The defendants have all pleaded not guilty to the murder of 43-year-old Tom Dooley from Hazelwood Drive, Killarney, at New Rath Cemetery, Rathass, Tralee, on October 5, 2022.

Five defendants in the case — all with the surname Dooley — Patrick, 36, from Arbutus Grove, Killarney; Thomas, 43, from the halting site, Carrigrohane Road; Thomas Jnr, 21, from the halting site, Carrigrohane, Cork; Michael, 29, of the halting site, Carrigrohane, Cork, and Daniel, 42, of An Carraigin, Connolly Park, Tralee, County Kerry, are on trial, as is the sixth defendant who is a teenager.