Noel ‘Duck Egg’ Kirwan died of multiple gunshot wounds, court hears

By Alison O’Riordan

Noel ‘Duck Egg’ Kirwan suffered multiple gunshot wounds, including a shot to the face, after a gunman attacked him in the driveway of his Dublin home, a Special Criminal Court murder trial has heard.

Deputy State Pathologist, Dr Linda Mulligan, today gave evidence in the trial of Jason Keating.

Mr Kirwan was sitting in his car at St Ronan’s Drive, Clondalkin, Dublin 22 on the evening of December 22, 2016 when a gunman shot him six times with a Makarov handgun which was later recovered at the scene.

The 62-year-old, a “long-time” friend of Gerry “the Monk” Hutch, suffered eight gunshot wounds in total to his head, right arm, chest and abdomen.

The three-judge court has heard that the murder of Mr Kirwan arose from a "notorious feud" between two criminal factions but the deceased had no connection with either side.

The deceased’s partner, Bernadette Roe, was in the passenger seat of his Ford Mondeo at the time of the attack. They had just returned from a Christmas lunch in a restaurant in Crumlin with Ms Roe’s daughter.

Mr Keating (27), of Lower Main Street, Rush, Co Dublin has pleaded not guilty to the murder of Mr Kirwan.

Dr Mulligan told prosecuting counsel Paul Greene SC that she carried out a post-mortem examination on Mr Kirwan’s body on the morning of December 23 at Tallaght Hospital.

Dr Mulligan agreed with Mr Greene that the deceased was shot six times and she identified eight gunshot wounds to his body. Signs of attempts to resuscitate him were present and five intact bullets were recovered at the post-mortem, she said.

The court heard there was evidence of bullet holes on his wax jacket, jumper and polo shirt which all had extensive blood-staining.

In her evidence, Dr Mulligan said Mr Kirwan was shot six times, once in the right of the face below his eye, once in the right shoulder and anterior chest, once in the anterior abdomen, two shots in the right arm and once in the right side of his body.

The fatal gunshot wound, which entered his chest via his shoulder, caused extensive damage to the main blood vessel in his body. The amount of blood loss would have led to death, she said.

The first gunshot, which entered the right of Mr Kirwan's face 4cms below his right eye, would have led to difficulty breathing and expedited death, the court heard.

Dr Mulligan also explained that an abrasion to the right side of his face was consistent with shattered glass from the driver’s window of his car.

Dr Mulligan noted that his stomach contained recently digested food namely red meat, vegetables and potatoes. There was no evidence of alcohol or drugs, she commented.

There was significant heart disease present in Mr Kirwan but this was not a contributory cause to his death, she said.

In conclusion, she gave his cause of death as multiple gunshot wounds.

The statement of Dr Haroon Khan, was previously read into the record by the prosecution.

Dr Khan said he got a call from Lucan Garda Station on December 22 to attend the scene and he observed Mr Kirwan fully clothed in the driveway of his house.

Mr Khan said he was bleeding from gunshot wounds to the right side of his face, his right shoulder and chest. He pronounced Mr Kirwan dead at 6.38pm.

It is the prosecution’s case that a ‘Gotek 7’ electronic tracking device had been put under his car in the weeks leading up to Mr Kirwan’s killing and a number of items - including an instruction manual for the same device - link Mr Keating to the attack.

The trial continues tomorrow before Mr Justice Tony Hunt, presiding, sitting with Judge Sinead Ni Chualachain and Judge Cormac Dunne.