A 67-year-old former member of the Defence Forces has denied the murder of his 84-year old friend, a former army captain, who was found shot dead at his home in Co Kerry last year.

Thomas Carroll, with an address at Brookway, Clonmel, Co Tipperary, pleaded not guilty to the murder of Patrick O’Mahony at Ballyreameen, near Castlemaine, between February 24th and 25th, 2024.

A jury of nine men and three women was sworn in to hear the trial, being held at the Central Criminal Court, sitting in Limerick.

Dean Kelly, senior counsel prosecuting on behalf of the State, on Monday told the jury Mr O’Mahony was a registered firearms dealer for more than 50 years and was well known and popular in the Castlemaine area.

Mr Kelly said Mr O’Mahony joined the FCA in 1955, aged 16, and served with E Company in Killorglin, Co Kerry.

The prosecuting barrister said Mr O’Mahony was regarded as an “excellent character”, and retired from the Defence Forces at the rank of captain, and with an “exemplary record”, in 1994.

Mr O’Mahony had five children and his wife had died in November 2023, three months prior to his own death.

Mr Kelly said Mr O’Mahony and Mr Carroll had been friends over many decades and were old soldier pals.

The prosecutor said the accused, Mr Carroll, was “utterly well liked and well regarded” in his local community, and that, prior to being arrested for Mr O’Mahony’s murder, was not on the radar of gardaí.

Mr Carroll joined the Defence Forces in 1975, and during a 37-year career had served 11 tours of peacekeeping duty in Lebanon and Kosovo, and held an exemplary record of service.

Mr O’Mahony and Mr Carroll both shared an “entirely lawful interest” in firearms, Mr Kelly said.

Outlining the prosecution’s case, Mr Kelly said Mr Carroll travelled by train, from his home in Co Tipperary, to visit Mr O’Mahony in Kerry on Friday, February 23rd, 2024.

Mr Carroll was a “genuine friend” of Mr O’Mahony, and travelled to express sympathy following the death of his wife, and spend time with an old comrade, it was heard.

The State said it was understood that both men had “a fair bit to drink” that evening before rising late on Saturday, and they had breakfast together in a local pub.

Later on Saturday afternoon they went back to Mr O’Mahony’s house.

At 7.40am on Sunday morning, Mr Carroll contacted a son of Mr O’Mahony to suggest he had fallen at the back door of his home.

Patrick O’Mahony jnr travelled to his father’s house and found his lifeless body on the ground.

The emergency services were alerted and Mr O’Mahony was pronounced dead at the scene before his remains were removed to the mortuary at Tralee University Hospital.

Gardaí did not initially treat the death as suspicious, the court heard. A murder investigation was launched after a local mortician contacted gardaí at about midday that Sunday.

The mortician informed gardaí they had found a small hole in Mr O’Mahony’s clothing and in his body near his upper abdomen.

A subsequent postmortem confirmed that Mr O’Mahony had suffered a single gunshot wound.

The autopsy report indicated that the bullet had entered the victim’s body at close range and Mr O’Mahony’s clothing and flesh had gunshot singe marks.

A single bullet was found in Mr O’Mahony’s remains at postmortem, and it was determined that he died as a result of haemorrhage and shock from the bullet passing through him.

Mr Kelly said that while it was not the State’s case that Thomas Carroll travelled to Kerry to kill his friend, it was the prosecution’s case that events between the two men had taken a “foul turn” over the course of the weekend in question.

The trial, which is expected to last up to three weeks, before Mr Justice Patrick McGrath, resumes on Tuesday.