Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
We’re numbed
Mother comforted over devastating loss of husband and sons Garda probe series of events which left three men shot dead Tributes paid to popular family after farmhouse tragedy
A PRIEST said the community where two brothers died with their father in a murder-suicide horror has been left “numbed, stunned and devastated”.
Fr John Magner prayed with wife and mother Ann O’sullivan in the aftermath of the shootings which left her as the only surviving member of the family.
Irish police are still piecing together the sequence of events that ended in bloodshed at the remote farm in Kanturk, Co Cork.
A third postmortem will be carried out today in a bid to unravel the truth.
Two autopsies were conducted yesterday to try to establish how 59-year-old Tadgh O’sullivan and his sons Mark, 26, and 23-year -old Diarmuid lost their lives.
It’s understood Mark died first in an upstairs bedroom of the family farmhouse.
Mechanic Tadgh and younger son Diarmuid sustained fatal gunshot wounds in a field 600 metres away.
Gardai recovered three legally held shotguns and rifles at the scene.
It’s believed there had been a simmering row about land and inheritance between the three.
Ho w e v e r, g a r d a i last night dismissed reports they had called to the O’sullivan home previously in relation to any altercation.
PRAYERS
A spokesman confirmed two postmortems were completed yesterday with a third scheduled for today.
He said: “A formal identification of the three men will follow thereafter.
“Contrary to some reports in the media, there had been no Garda interaction with the deceased men, or their family, prior to the tragic events of October 26, 2020.”
At a local Mass yesterday, prayers were said for the family and Mrs O’sullivan.
Fr Magner met the 60-year-old after attending the scene and praying for the three men.
He said the wife and mother was “absolutely devastated” and that he prayed with her for the strength to cope with her “immense loss”.
He told RTE: “You cannot put words into how she felt.”
Fr Magner added it was also devastating for family and friends.
He said: “To find that friends they have are just gone, departing this world so early in life.
“It’s awful for families too when people pass away very young. It’s very tough on people.
“It’s very difficult for younger people to understand why all these things
There are no words anyone can say to express how people are feeling DR DAN COLLINS CORK YESTERDAY
happen.” Fr Toby Bluitt, parish priest of Kanturk and Lismire and administrator of Castlemagner Park, told how the community was “in deep shock and numbed”.
He said that, on behalf of the communities of Castlemagner and Kanturk and Lismire, “we of fer our deepest sympathies to Ann O’sullivan on the tragic loss of her husband Tadgh and sons Diarmuid and Mark”.
The parish priest added: “All of us are in deep shock and numbed by this heart-breaking news. We pray
CLOSE BOND Mark on graduation day with mum Ann
the Lord’s consolation for Ann and her family and for God’s mercy for Tadgh, Diarmuid and Mark. May they rest in peace.”
Friends and former classmates of Mark, a trainee solicitor, and Diarmuid, a trainee accountant, have also paid tribute to the high-achieving young men.
The Cork college where Diarmiud was due to be conferred with a first class degree next week was in “shock at the loss of a young man with promise”.
Staff and students at Cork Institute of Te chn o log y e xpre ssed their disbelief and sadness.
Dr Dan Collins, head of student affairs, said: “There are no words anyone can say to express how people are feeling.
“This tragedy is heartbreaking and we extend our thoughts and sympathy to his mother Ann.
“We also keep in our thoughts and prayers his brother Mark and his father Tadgh. We are mindful at this time of his friends, classmates and staff of the Department of Accounting and Information Systems as well as the extended family and neighbours.”
Dr Collins added staff who knew Diarmuid during his time at CIT described him as a young man with promise who was a hard worker, respected and held in high regard by staff and students.
Mark was a trainee solicitor and had recently completed a Masters in corporate law at UCC.
It is understood he had previously
It’s absolutely heartbreaking, they’re a very well-known family, very well-liked PAUL GALLAGHER CASTLEMAGNER YESTERDAY
attended University of Limerick for his undergraduate degree, where he earned an award from the president of the university.
A former classmat e at UC C described him as “a very gentle soul, a nice guy who was always helping”.
Siddhant Shahane told RTE he and his fellow classmates were “pretty shocked” when they heard the news.
Meanwhile, the assistant PRO of Castlemagner GAA club, where the brothers played, described the family as “very well-liked”.
Paul Gallagher said the community
will rally around Mrs O’sullivan as best they can to try and help her through this difficult time.
He told Newstalk 106: “I’m absolutely devastated by the news.
“It’s not something you’d ever believe would be visited on your doorstep – it’s an absolutely heartbreaking situation.
“As a community, we’re numbed and it will take a long, long time to recover from this. They were a very well-known family. Mark and Diarmuid would have played GAA in under-age with their school but they ’re a very well-known family, very well-liked family.
“It’s a difficult one to get your head around no doubt and it’s in times like these you need to get strength from the organisations you have in the community – and we would be reasonably well-blessed in that regard. “We’re going to pull together for Ann O’sullivan and for her extended family. Obviously our thoughts and prayers are with them at the moment.”
The bodies were found on the family farm in Assolas, Kanturk, north-east Co Cork on Monday. All three had suffered gunshot wounds.
Gardai were alerted at around 6.30am after Mrs O’sullivan raised the alarm that firearms may have been discharged at her home.
A major Garda operation quickly swung into action with a ring of steel thrown up around the property.