The prisoner (27) was arrested in the Midlands Prison this morning on suspicion of attacking another prisoner the day before the firebomb attack which claimed his loved one’s lives in Edenderry, Co Offaly.
10:59, 16 Dec 2025Updated 22:11, 16 Dec 2025
Mary Holt, 60 and little Tadgh Farrell
A prisoner known to double murder victims Tadhg Farrell and Mary Holt who was arrested on Wednesday over an assault which occurred the day before the tragedy has been released without charge.
The prisoner (27) was arrested in the Midlands Prison on Tuesday morning on suspicion of attacking another prisoner the day before the firebomb attack which claimed his loved one’s lives in Edenderry, Co Offaly.
Gardai confirmed on Tuesday night that the suspect had been released without charge. He was sent back to the custody of the Prison Service.
The force said in a statement: “The man who was arrested as part of this investigation has been released without charge.
“He has returned to Midlands Prison, Portlaoise.
“Investigations are ongoing.”
As the Irish Mirror previously revealed, gardai suspect that the prisoner who was assaulted by this man then contacted his criminal associates on the outside – and the revenge firebomb attack on the house was ordered.
The attack forms part of a wider drugs dispute between local criminals. Gardai last week arrested four men in relation to the behind bars attack – which also saw the victim of the assault moved to an isolated cell in Portlaoise Prison. He remains a suspect in the overall plot to firebomb the house – claiming the lives of the beloved nursing home worker and her grand nephew.
In a statement, gardai said they continue to investigate “all the circumstances of an assault causing harm which is alleged to have taken place in the Midlands Prison on the 6th December 2025.
It comes as gardai also raided homes in Offaly and Kildare last week connected to a teenage suspect (15) and a known local criminal suspected to be involved in the attack. The scorned prisoner, who was assaulted by the lag known to the deceased, is suspected of contacting this criminal – who ordered the young teen and another to carry out the attack.
Four-year-old Tadhg Farrell and his grand-aunt Mary Holt died in a fire attack
Mourners turn out to pay their respects(Image: Colin Keegan, Collins, Dublin)
Gardai had released CCTV footage of the moment the two attackers were seen breaking windows and hurling the firebomb into the ground floor – where tragic Mary and Tadhg were left trapped in the sitting room.
The attack also saw Tadhg’s grandmother Pauline left seriously injured in hospital. During little Tadhg’s funeral, parish priest Fr Gregory Corcoran read words from his heartbroken mother Shannon Farrell, who said that Tadgh had “filled a lifetime of love” into his four years.
She said that he had a smile that could light any room, and that he taught her what “joy really looks like” and “how precious every moment can be”.
“I will find you in every bit of sunshine,” she said.
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