Senior garda appointed to review handling of third-party concerns in Cork murder-suicide
Mark O'Sullivan was found dead in his room at the family home on October 26, 2020, after being shot seven times by his brother Diarmuid and father Tadg. They later took their own lives.
A senior garda has been appointed to conduct a review of garda protocols for dealing with third-party concerns about the potential for violence following the deaths of a Cork father and his two sons in October 2020.
An Garda Síochána has confirmed to the that a senior officer from outside the Cork North garda division has been appointed “to conduct a review into this matter”.
Mark O’Sullivan, 26, was found dead in his room at the family home in Raheen, Assolas, near Kanturk, Co. Cork, on October 26, 2020, after being shot seven times by his brother Diarmuid, 23, and father Tadg, 59. They later took their own lives.
Anne O’Sullivan, the mother of Mark and Diarmuid and Tadg’s wife, was not targeted in the incident and raised the alarm. She died last year following an illness.
An inquest into the three men’s deaths held in Mallow last August heard that Mark had told a close friend, Claragh Lucey, that he was afraid that Tadg and Diarmuid would kill him and make his death appear like a suicide.
The inquest also heard that Anne’s cousin, Louise Sherlock, went to see gardaí on October 13, 2020, to highlight concerns she had about Anne and Mark’s safety, and to seek advice.
She told gardaí about an encounter she had with Tadg and Diarmuid in the previous days on the roadway close to the O’Sullivan property, during which she said Diarmuid told her “this will all be over in a couple of weeks” and that there would be “carnage”.
Gardaí gave her advice about protection and barring orders, she said. She also said they advised her to talk to a lawyer and she was told to make sure she had a copy of the Eircode “should we need to contact gardaí”.
The jury at the inquest issued a recommendation that garda protocols over third-party contacts to gardaí involving the safety of others, particularly in cases of firearms possession, be reviewed. During the inquest, a statement made to gardaí by Mark’s friend Claragh Lucey was read into evidence.
Mark had told her of a row in the family home over a will regarding the land at Assolas, which he and Diarmuid’s mother Anne had inherited from her parents. The land was being rented to a farmer.
Their father Tadg also had inherited land from his family, and the couple had never put the holdings into joint ownership. The lands had not become an issue until Anne received a terminal cancer diagnosis in February 2020.
Diarmuid had wanted to inherit the majority of the land at Assolas, but Anne had wanted to split the holding between both sons. Tadg was on Diarmuid’s side in the row, the inquest heard.
Gardaí received a call at 7.32am on October 26 about an armed incident at the property in Assolas. The body of Mark was found in the house; the bodies of Tadg and Diarmuid were found in a nearby field. Broken phones and a hammer were also found.
The alarm was raised after Anne went to a neighbour’s house on foot, after seeing her son and husband fire shots into Mark’s room. The jury returned a verdict of unlawful killing in the case of Mark, and ruled that Tadg and Diarmuid had taken their own lives.
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