Former detective in Kerry Babies case Gerry O'Carroll dies

Gerry O'Carroll. File Picture. 

Retired garda and former member of the unit known as the murder squad Gerry O’Carroll has died in his native Co Kerry.

Ex-Detective Insp O’Carroll, a native of Listowel, was involved in dozens of investigations into serious crime, many of them high profile. 

He was also part of the 1984 inquiry into what became known as The Kerry Babies.

Gerry O'Carroll(R) prior to taking the witness box on his last day of evidence at the Kerry Babies Joanne Hayes Tribunal. File Photo: Eamonn Farrell/RollingNews.ie

Over his 34-year career as a garda, he investigated around 80 murders including the high-profile case of Geoffrey Evans and John Shaw, two men from the UK, who travelled to Ireland where they tortured two innocent women to death in the 1970s.

He was one of the leading detectives on the Kerry Babies case, involving two children who died around the same time in the eighties.

After he retired from the force, he worked with the Evening Herald newspaper as a columnist.

His character was depicted in the movie The General – and played by Angelina Jolie’s father, John Voight.

A larger-than-life presence, Mr O’Carroll was never shy of the media, and had been a fixture on Irish crime TV programmes up until recent years.

He was living in Listowel, and he was also a writer and frequently contributed to broadcast discussions. He died in UHK Tralee after a short illness. He was in his early 80s.

He is survived by his wife Kathleen, sons Conor, Philip, and Brian, daughter Margaret, and Eleanor, and extended family.

He is reposing at Lyons Funeral Home in Listowel on Thursday evening, and a cremation service will take place on Saturday.