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An autopsy will be carried out today on the bodies of a father and his two sons after what Gardaí believes was a murder-suicide in Cork on Monday.
The autopsies are expected to help establish what exactly happened to the family at their farm near Castlemagner on the outskirts of Kanturk in North Cork yesterday. All three had suffered gunshot wounds.
Gardaí described the incident, in which Tadhg O’Sullivan (59) and his two sons Mark (26) and Diarmuid (23) were killed, as a terrible tragedy. Family members were last night comforting Mr. O’Sullivan’s widow, Anne (60), who had recently left the hospital after surgery.
The bodies of the three men were brought to Cork University Hospital on Monday night after assistant state pathologist Dr. Margaret Bolster attended the scene.
Gardaí will wait for the results of Dr. Bolster’s autopsies at Cork University Hospital to establish how many times Mark O’Sullivan was shot. The first indications were that Tadhg and Diarmuid O’Sullivan suffered single gunshot wounds.
A technical examination of the house and adjacent land is in progress.
Gardaí at the shooting site in Assolas, near Kanturk in North Cork. Photograph: Daragh McSweeney / Provision
Gardaí is keeping an open mind about what led to the tragedy, but says he is investigating whether the shootings may have been related to a dispute over a will that would have caused Diarmuid to lose part of the family farm in Castlemagner, near Kanturk. .
Tadhg O’Sullivan was originally from Roskeen, between Mallow and Kanturk, and had married on the farm, but never farmed or worked on the 150-acre farm. He worked as a mechanic at Greenhall Motors in Buttevant, about 15 km away.
Mrs O’Sullivan (60), a nurse at Mount Alverna in Mallow, had been to the hospital in Dublin last week for surgery for a serious medical condition and was accompanied to Dublin by her eldest son, Mark. It is understood that they stayed with neighbors for the last few days after returning to Castlemagner.
However, they returned to the family home on Sunday night, and events took a tragic turn on Monday morning when Tadhg and Diarmuid are believed to have broken into Mark’s room sometime after 6.30am and one or both shot him.
‘Critical firearms incident’
Gardaí was alerted to a “critical firearms incident” around 6.30am Monday after Ms O’Sullivan raised the alarm that firearms may have been fired at her home.
They were informed that three men were in the house and that one may have suffered gunshot wounds.
The Garda began its critical response to the firearms incident and negotiators attempted to contact anyone on the property during the morning.
Agents from the emergency response unit, the armed support unit, the national negotiating unit, the technical support unit (Garda headquarters), the southern region dog unit and the air support unit participated.
Shortly after one in the afternoon, Gardaí approached the house and found Mark’s body in a bedroom.
The bodies of Tadhg and Diarmuid O’Sullivan were later found on adjacent land after an aerial search. Several firearms were found at the scene.
Gardaí said Monday that they are not looking for anyone else in connection with the incident.
Family ‘very dear’
The tragedy has left the North Cork community shocked and saddened. Diarmuid had completed his studies at the Cork Institute of Technology (CIT) in June and would be awarded a first-class bachelor’s degree in accounting next week, the institute confirmed.
Dr. Dan Collins, CIT’s head of student affairs, said the CIT community was in shock when news of the tragic deaths broke.
Dr. Collins said that CIT staff, where Diarmuid O’Sullivan took the four-year course, described him as “a young man with promise, who was a hard worker, respected and highly respected by staff and students.” .
“This tragedy is heartbreaking and we extend our thoughts and condolences to his mother, Anne. We also keep in our thoughts and prayers, his brother Mark and his father Tadhg.
“At this time we are aware of his friends, classmates, and the Accounting and Information Systems Department staff, as well as extended family and neighbors,” Dr. Collins said in a statement released by CIT.
Paul Gallagher, assistant public relations officer for the Castlemagner GAA club, where the brothers used to play at a young age, expressed his deepest condolences to Ms. O’Sullivan and her extended family on behalf of the club.
Mr. Gallagher said that it was a “close-knit” community and that the family was “very dear.”
“We are usually used to hearing these stories, or watching them on television instead of watching them outside the window,” he told RTÉ’s Morning Ireland program.
He said the community would join with Ms. O’Sullivan in trying to help her at this time, but said Covid-19 restrictions were making it more difficult.
Farm buildings at the scene of a fatal shooting in Assolas, near Kanturk, North Cork. Photograph: Daragh Mc Sweeney / Provision
‘A very sad scene’
Kanturk’s priest, Fr. John Magner, attended the place where he blessed the bodies and then offered comfort to Mrs. O’Sullivan at the home of relatives.
“I spent a while talking to her, offering her comfort. I prayed for her, to have the strength to face her enormous loss, ”Fr. Magner told News at One on RTÉ radio.
It had been difficult for him to find the words to tell her, he said. “I did not know what to say. I did my best chatting with her and prayed for her. It was a very sad scene. “It has been difficult to communicate through masks, he said.
He said that it would be difficult for younger people to understand that someone their age has left this world so early.
Local Fine Gael John Paul O’Shea Cllr of Lombardstown said people in Castlemagner and nearby Kanturk were trying to come to terms with the tragedy.
“There is a total sense of disbelief. The exact details of the case need to be confirmed, but it is obviously a tight-knit community in Castlemagner, so the confirmation that three people had passed away is very tragic and has been greeted with a real sense of grief and loss in the area.
“The news is spreading on different social media platforms, so Castlemagner and Kanturk people around the world are learning about it, so it will be very difficult for people to accept, but I have no doubt that the people of Castlemagner will come together and support the family. “
Fianna Fáil Councilor Pat Hayes said it was a tragedy for the family and said his thoughts, condolences and prayers are with them at this difficult time.
“It has been a real shock to the community,” he said.
“We are a very close-knit community here and, to be honest with you, everyone is insensitive.”
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