Gardaí probe land ownership as motive for brutal north Cork killings

Autopsies are due to take place on the bodies of all three brothers at Cork University Hospital (CUH) on Saturday

Willie Hennessey pictured with his local GAA club Ballygiblin in 1979; Paddy (Pat) Hennessey pictured with his local GAA club Ballygiblin in 1984. Pictures: Daragh Mc Sweeney/Provision

Gardaí investigating the murder of two brothers on the family farm in north Cork and the apparent drowning of a third are set to probe land ownership and farm income issues as possible motives for the brutal killings.

They are among several lines of inquiry that are being pursued following the violent deaths of Willie Hennessy, 66, and his brother, Patrick, 60, at the family farm at Curraghgorm, near Kildorrery on the Mitchelstown to Mallow road, which emerged in the early hours of today.