A garda investigating the disappearance of Bobby Ryan made a note saying, "Mary Lowry had his head melted," but he couldn't remember who made the comment, the Central Criminal Court has heard.

The injuries to Bobby Ryan's body were not caused by debris falling on the skeleton when gardaí removed the concrete lid covering the tank in which the body was found, a senior garda has told the Central Criminal Court.

Mary Lowry's son has described murder accused Pat Quirke as "in control most of the time, grumpy some of the time" and said he went around his mother's farm "as if he kind of owned the place".

A forensic anthropologist has told the Patrick Quirke murder trial that he identified human and animal bones and an animal's tooth found in the tank alongside Bobby Ryan's body.