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Court hears evidence from man accused of manslaughter of Oughterard publican John Kenny
Galway Bay fm newsroom – A court has heard that the man accused of the manslaughter of an Oughterard publican told Gardaí the last time he saw the deceased he was locking the pub door behind him.
The body of 56 year old John Kenny was found in the ladies toilets of Kenny’s Bar, Main Street, Oughterard, on September 25th 2011.
24 year old Marian Lingurar Junior with an address at Blackpool in Cork is accused of his manslaughter, as well as a charge of trespass with intent to commit an offence.
Last week, then State Pathologist Professor Marie Cassidy outlined the violent injuries suffered by Mr. Kenny – noting that despite their severity, he would likely have survived ‘for a time’.
A statement was read out at Galway Circuit Court that Marian Lingurar Jr., who was then a juvenile, gave Gardaí on the 26th of September, 2011.
He said a man he had known a few months, Florin Fitzpatrick, had gotten him a job working out at Kenny’s Bar in Oughterard.
The court heard that Marian Lingurar Jr. claimed to have worked at Kenny’s Bar the week prior to John Kenny’s death – and that Mr. Kenny was happy with the arrangement and invited him back to work on Saturday, September 24th.
He says on that night, he began work at 8pm, and was initially cleaning glasses before he starting checking IDs – and that he turned some underage people away.
Marian Lingurar Jr. told Gardai both he and Florin Fitzpatrick, who worked behind the bar, cleaned the place up, and that by this point, John Kenny was ‘very drunk’ and ‘falling about the place’.
In his statement, he says he gave Mr. Kenny some water, and that himself and Florin Fitzpatrick left about 1am, at which point John Kenny locked the door behind them.
He claims they both checked that the door was indeed locked, and left with Marian Lingurar Snr., who drove all three back to Galway.
He said they dropped Florin Fitzpatrick off in Galway City and that he arrived home to Claregalway at around 1.40am.
The trial continues at Galway Circuit Court.
The death has occurred of the former Bishop of Galway, Kilmacduagh and Kilfenora Martin Drennan, six years after he announced his retirement on health grounds. He was aged 78.
The Galway Diocesan Office confirmed the death this (Saturday) afternoon of the Bishop and Apostolic Administrator Emeritus, who oversaw the Diocese for eleven years.
Born on January 2, 1944 in Piltown, County Kilkenny, he studied for the priesthood at Saint Patrick’s College, Maynooth, from where he was ordained to the priesthood in 1968. His brother Michael is also a priest.
Following his ordination, he continued his studies in Rome where he was awarded a Licentiate in both sacred theology and sacred scripture. He returned to Rome in 1980 to become spiritual director at the Pontifical Irish College for the next five years.
He became a lecturer in sacred scripture at Saint Patrick’s College, Maynooth, where he continued to teach until his appointment as Auxiliary Bishop of Dublin in 1997 with responsibility for East Wicklow and South Dublin.
Following the retirement of Bishop James McLoughlin, Bishop Drennan was appointed Bishop of Galway and Kilmacduagh and Apostolic Administrator of Kilfenora and he was installed on July 3, 2005 in Galway Cathedral.
Outgoing Cllr Terry O’Flaherty (Ind) is on course to retain her City Council seat – and top the poll in City East.
With 33% of the boxes tallied, Cllr O’Flaherty is polling strongly, particularly in Renmore.
Michael John Crowe is ahead of his running mate Alan Cheevers for the Fianna Fáil vote, according to the early figures, although that could change when Doughiska and Roscam boxes are opened.
The Green Party’s Claire Hillery is on about 7%, with Fine Gael on 10% and Sinn Fein on 5%.
The opening of boxes for the local elections began at 9am this morning in Leisureland when the tallymen (and women) kicked into gear.
As regards the Galway County Council elections, the smaller areas are being opened first which means that the four-seater Connemara North boxes will be first in the pecking order.
It will be followed by Gort-Kinvara (5 seats), Connemara South (5 seats), Athenry-Oranmore (7 seats), Ballinasloe (6 seats), Loughrea (5 seats) and finally Tuam (7 seats).
The boxes in these areas will be opened and tallied in that particular order before being transferred to the Galway Lawn Tennis Club on Threadneedle Road where the counting will commence around mid-morning.
That is when the fun will really begin – although the tallies should give a good indication as to where most of the seats are destined.
As regards the city, the Galway City East boxes were opened first, followed by Galway City Central and finally Galway City West. These votes will be transferred to the Westside Centre by around 11am for counting.
There are 39 seats on Galway County Council to be filled with 18 on Galway City Council. The City Council count is expected to conclude on Saturday night but the County Council count – with seven electoral areas to be filled – could well go into Monday.
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