A widow has told a sentencing hearing that her husband was butchered by his brother and his cousins in a “horror show” attack at a graveyard in Tralee, Co Kerry nearly two years ago.
Five men have been sentenced to life in prison for the murder of Kerry father-of-seven Thomas Dooley (43) from Ballyspillane in Killarney. He was killed in front of his wife, Siobhan, and their four youngest children.
Mr Dooley was set upon by the group of men, who were armed with weapons, when members of his family went to Rath cemetery in Tralee for the funeral of a family friend on October 5th, 2022.
The five men who have received the mandatory life sentence are the dead man’s 36-year-old brother, Patrick Dooley, of Arbutus Grove, Killarney, Co Kerry; his brother-in-law and cousin 43-year-old Thomas Dooley Snr, and his cousin, 21-year-old Thomas Dooley Junior, both of the Halting Site, Carrigrohane Road, Cork; his 29-year-old cousin Michael Dooley, of Bay 11, Halting Site, Carrigrohan, Co Cork; and his 42-year-old cousin Daniel Dooley, of An Carraigin, Connolly Park, Tralee, Co Kerry.
A sixth man – a juvenile – was also convicted of murder and will be sentenced later this year.
Thomas Dooley Jnr was also found guilty of a charge of intentionally or recklessly causing harm to Siobhan Dooley at the cemetery on the same date. Ms Justice Mary Ellen Ring imposed a four and a half year sentence in relation to this offence. It will run concurrently with his life sentence.
Siobhan Dooley sustained injuries in the attack. She received a foot long wound to her shoulder which required 45 stitches and 30 surgical staples. A powerful victim impact statement was read in to the record on her behalf.
Mrs Dooley said her life was turned upside down when her husband was stolen from his family in a barbaric attack.
“What me and my four children witnessed in the graveyard that day will never leave us. They (the convicted men) took their childhood away from them.
"The horror (the children) witnessed that day no child should ever see. I will never understand why Thomas was murdered in the most horrible way. He (Thomas) told me to run, so I could be saved.
"The last two months of the trial have been very hard for me and my children. Every day we have had to see the six men who murdered Thomas. I want my children to be able to be children. I made a promise to Thomas the day we put him in the ground that we would get justice for him and we did. I am blessed to have my babies and my grand babies and we will always keep his memory alive.”
Mr Dooley said that Thomas was a ‘doting’ father who cried when he walked two of their eldest daughters down the aisle at their weddings. Mrs Dooley added that when Thomas became a grandfather his life was complete. However, he joked that he was a little young for the role.
“His children always came first. He was 100 per cent a family man and a doting father. The children always had him wrapped around their fingers. His grandchildren took over his life. It is fair to say he nearly favoured the grandchildren over his own children. He was just so proud and honoured to be a granddad."
Mrs Dooley thanked gardaí for their support in the wake of the tragedy. She also expressed appreciation for the work of the presiding judge, Ms Justice Ring, the jury and legal teams and the help of her “amazing family and friends.”
Over the past month, the six men have been on trial at a sitting of the Central Criminal Court in Cork charged with the murder of Mr Dooley who died of sharp force injuries which caused massive blood loss.
Dean Kelly, SC for the State, said that tension had occurred as a relationship between one of the late Mr Dooley’s daughters and one of the accused men had “broken down”. There was no suggestion of any provocation by the late Thomas Dooley who was set upon with “murderous ferocity.”
Mrs Dooley had told the trial that there was a “clean break” between her family and the accused men when her daughter Rosie broke up with Thomas Dooley Jnr in November 2019 on the day one of her other daughters was getting married.
“The trouble only started when my daughter refused to marry Tom Dooley’s son, Thomas. We never communicated after. We never spoke."
Mr Kelly said that the convicted men arrived at the graveyard at 11:15am on the day of the offence. Mr Kelly said that the men parked three vans they had travelled in outside the graveyard.
Mr Kelly said that Siobhan Dooley and a daughter walked into the graveyard about 15 seconds behind her husband and their three sons.
“The attack took place about 100 metres into the cemetery. It commenced less than a minute after he (Thomas) entered the cemetery.
"Siobhan was in the graveyard for one minute and 59 seconds. Siobhan said that it was Patrick Dooley she observed first because of his height. She saw both of them (Patrick and Thomas Dooley Snr) grin. She says that Thomas Dooley Snr took off his coat and he had two weapons and that Patrick Dooley had another knife. She said that she saw an axe like you would see in Indian movies.
"She was afraid her daughter was going to be hit and described herself as getting a bang. She sees a maul gathered around her husband. The maul grabbed him (her husband) by his two collars. She stated that she screamed at her children to go and all she could do was scrape at the face of Thomas Dooley Snr to get him away from her husband.
"She said somebody shouted “take her out too” and she was knocked to the ground. She looks towards her husband on the ground and they are ‘all around at him hitting.’ That there was blood squirting everywhere. She confirms the whole lot of them had weapons and were striking him with them. All armed and hitting him.”
Mr Kelly said that following the attack the six men ran to the three vans and “left the scene at speed.” They travelled “in convoy” with each vehicle taking a “distinct route” to go to Cork city.
Mr Kelly said that Mrs Dooley collapsed on the floor of the nearby service station where she went to raise the alarm.
“She had received two wounds the greater of which was a foot in length on her shoulder and required 45 stitches and 30 surgical staples.”
Ms Justice Ring said that it was “fortuitous” that a Garda was in a nearby shop when Mrs Dooley ran out of the cemetery to raise the alarm. As a result “vital information” was gained about the perpetrators.
Ms Justice Ring said that the vigilance and speed at which gardaí worked led to the early arrest of the men. She complimented Kerry and Cork gardaí for their “excellent co-operation” in the course of the investigation.
“The body of the evidence that the investigation amassed brought the investigation home. I only wish the experience and resources in this investigation could be applied to all investigations across the country.”
Ms Justice Ring said that calls for more gardaí should not be ignored if justice is to be served for victims. She stressed that it was clear that Thomas Dooley was “very much loved.”
Ms Justice Ring said that despite “protestations of innocence” by the convicted men the “only miscarriage of justice” in the case was the taking of the life of Mr Dooley.
“The violence in this case was totally unwarranted. Not one of these men said ‘Stop’ there are children. To do that in front of his young children was unforgivable.”
