A 67-year-old Tipperary man has gone on trial, charged with the murder of a friend of his in Co Kerry last year.

Thomas Carroll, with an address at Brookway, Clonmel, has pleaded not guilty to the murder of 84-year-old Patrick O’Mahony, at Ballyreameen, near Castlemaine, on an unknown date between 24 and 25 February 2024.

A jury of nine men and three women has been empanelled for the trial, which got under way at the Central Criminal Court in Limerick today.

The proceedings are expected to take two to three weeks, with over 90 witnesses listed to give evidence.

In his opening statement to the jury this afternoon, Dean Kelly SC outlined the State’s case against Mr Carroll.

He told them Patrick O’Mahony had been a registered firearms dealer in Co Kerry for over 50 years and was well known in the area.

Mr O’Mahony had joined the FCA in 1955, when he was aged just 16, serving with the E Company in Killorglin.

He was a man of “excellent character” in the locality and had an “exemplary record” when he left the local Defence Forces in 1994, with the rank of Captain.

Mr O’Mahony had five children and had lost his wife in November 2023, three months before his death.

The court heard how Thomas Carroll was a friend of the deceased over many decades and how he was “utterly well liked and well regarded”.

Prior to the allegations for which he is on trial, he was unknown to gardaí.

Mr Carroll was also involved in the Defence Forces, having joined the army in 1975.

During a 37 year career, he served eleven tours of duty on peacekeeping missions in Lebanon, as well as travelling to Kosovo. He was also said to have had an exemplary record in the service of his country.

Both the victim and the accused met through their work in the Defence Forces and shared an “entirely lawful interest” in firearms.

Jurors heard how Mr Carroll travelled to Kerry by train on Friday 23 February last year, to visit Mr O’Mahony at his home.

He was described as a “genuine friend” of the deceased, who had travelled to express sympathy and to spend time with an old comrade.

Thought both men had a ‘fair bit of drink’

It is thought both men had “a fair bit to drink” that evening. They rose late on Saturday and had breakfast together in a local pub that morning.

They may have watched an Ireland and Wales rugby match that afternoon before returning to Mr O’Mahony’s house later that day.

Mr Kelly said that at 7.40 the next morning, Mr Carroll telephoned a son of the victim, suggesting Mr O’Mahony had fallen at the back door of the property.

Patrick O’Mahony Jr travelled the short distance from his home to the house and found his father lying on the ground. He was pronounced dead at the scene and taken to the mortuary at Tralee University Hospital.

Initially, the death was not treated as suspicious, but a mortician contacted gardaí at around midday on that Sunday, to inform them that a small hole had been found in clothing, close to Mr O’Mahony’s upper abdomen. A similar hole was found in his body.

Single gunshot wound, post-mortem confirms

A subsequent post-mortem examination confirmed a single gunshot wound, with soot indicating the bullet had entered the victim’s body at close contact.

Mr Kelly said this suggested the gun had been fired sufficiently close to the body, such that the muzzle had singed both clothing and flesh.

The court heard that a single bullet had been found in Mr O’Mahony’s remains, and that it was determined that he died as a result of haemorrhage and shock, from the bullet passing through him.

While it is not the State’s case that Mr Carroll had travelled to Kerry to kill his friend, Mr Kelly said it was the prosecution’s case that events had taken a “foul turn” over the course of the weekend.

It contends that Mr Carroll pointed a handgun at the victim at point blank range, intending to kill or at least cause serious injury.

The prosecution also contends that when he raised the alarm on Sunday morning, Mr Carroll knew his friend was dead and speculation that Mr O’Mahony had fallen was dishonest and “self serving”.

Mr Kelly concluded his opening remarks by telling jurors they must listen to the evidence that would be presented over the course of the trial dispassionately and adjudicate on that basis.

Proceedings, before Mr Justice Patrick McGrath, will resume in the morning, when the first witnesses will be called.