Man found guilty of Barry Daly murder in Doneraile after four days of jury deliberations

Jury will return next week to continue deliberations in the separate murder trial of a 17-year-old co-accused

Barry Daly. File picture

After four days of deliberations, a jury has found 20-year-old Alex Deady guilty of the murder of 44-year-old postman Barry Daly.

Alex Deady, of Glenview, Convent Road, Doneraile, Co Cork, was found guilty of murdering Mr Daly at Rockview Terrace, Doneraile, on October 12, 2025.

The verdict came after the jury deliberated for a total of 11 hours and 51 minutes. The 11-member jury returned a unanimous verdict.

There was no visible reaction from Deady when the verdict was delivered. During Garda interviews, he claimed he had gone to the deceased's house to fight him, not to kill or seriously injure him.

During the trial, the jury heard evidence from Mr Daly's partner, Katie O'Reilly, who described jumping out of bed and running into the garden shortly after 2am to find blood everywhere before lying beside her partner and begging him to come back.

She told the court she had been lying in bed waiting for Barry to return home after celebrations for Doneraile's victorious Junior B hurling championship team.

She said she heard shouting and an angry voice saying, "I am going to kill you," followed by Barry saying, "Stop."

As she lay in bed she said to herself, "I hope to God that is not Barry." And she heard the horrible sound of someone being whacked with force. She ran to the garden and there was blood everywhere. 

“I knew he was dead. I checked for a pulse. I law down beside him. I kept begging him to come back. I was lying beside Barry for maybe two minutes.” 

The jury has been sitting at the Central Criminal Court in Cork since being sworn in on Wednesday, June 3, with the trial opening on June 4.

However, its work is not yet complete. The six women and five men will return to the courthouse at Anglesea Street on Monday, July 6, at 11am to resume deliberations in relation to a second defendant, a 17-year-old who cannot be identified because he is a juvenile.

The jury was reminded on several occasions by counsel and the trial judge that it was effectively considering separate trials and had to reach a decision on each accused individually.

The 17-year-old also faces a charge of murdering Mr Daly at Rockview Terrace, Doneraile, on October 12, 2025. Like Mr Deady, he pleaded not guilty to murder but guilty to manslaughter at the outset of the trial.

The jury no longer has to consider the case against a third accused. On June 24, the third defendant, who is 16, entered a plea of "Not guilty of murder but guilty of manslaughter," which was accepted by the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP).