Father Niall Molloy (14 April 1933 – 8 July 1985) was a

Catholic priest The priesthood is the office of the ministers of religion, who have been commissioned ("ordained") with the Holy orders of the Catholic Church. Technically, bishops are a priestly order as well; however, in layman's terms ''priest'' refers only ...

who was killed in mysterious circumstances in Kilcoursey House in

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County Offaly County Offaly (; ga, Contae Uíbh Fhailí) is a county in Ireland. It is part of the Eastern and Midland Region and the province of Leinster. It is named after the ancient Kingdom of Uí Failghe. It was formerly known as King's County, in hono ...

, the home of Richard and Therese Flynn. When the

Garda Síochána (; meaning "the Guardian(s) of the Peace"), more commonly referred to as the Gardaí (; "Guardians") or "the Guards", is the national police service of Ireland. The service is headed by the Garda Commissioner who is appointed by the Irish Gover ...

arrived, they found that there were signs of violence in Flynn's bedroom and that there was a large bloodstain on the carpet. The priest died the day after the wedding of the Flynns' daughter Maureen. Richard Flynn was charged with

manslaughter Manslaughter is a common law legal term for homicide considered by law as less culpable than murder. The distinction between murder and manslaughter is sometimes said to have first been made by the ancient Athenian lawmaker Draco in the 7th cen ...

and with

actual bodily harm Assault occasioning actual bodily harm (often abbreviated to Assault OABH, AOABH or simply ABH) is a statutory offence of aggravated assault in England and Wales, Northern Ireland, the Australian Capital Territory, New South Wales, Hong Kong and th ...

, but Judge Frank Roe at his trial, a family friend, directed the jury to give a not guilty verdict. In 2011, a medical examination of brain tissue kept after the original post-mortem revealed that there was a high probability that the priest was alive up to six hours after the initial attack and therefore might have lived if medical help had been summoned. Molloy was parish priest of Castlecoote,

County Roscommon "Steadfast Irish heart" , image_map = Island of Ireland location map Roscommon.svg , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Ireland , subdivision_type1 = Province , subdivision_name1 = Connacht , subdi ...

at the time of his death.

Trial of Richard Flynn

During Richard Flynn's trial, the defence said that it was possible that Father Molloy had died from

heart failure Heart failure (HF), also known as congestive heart failure (CHF), is a syndrome, a group of signs and symptoms caused by an impairment of the heart's blood pumping function. Symptoms typically include shortness of breath, excessive fatigue, a ...

, this led Judge Frank Roe---a "great friend" of the families involved---to direct the jury less than four hours after the hearing began to return a verdict of not guilty. Subsequent to the trial, a

coroner A coroner is a government or judicial official who is empowered to conduct or order an inquest into Manner of death, the manner or cause of death, and to investigate or confirm the identity of an unknown person who has been found dead within th ...

inquest An inquest is a judicial inquiry in common law jurisdictions, particularly one held to determine the cause of a person's death. Conducted by a judge, jury, or government official, an inquest may or may not require an autopsy carried out by a coro ...

found that Father Molloy had died from a "subdural haemorrhage consistent with having sustained a serious injury to the head".

Connections with Flynn family

Fr. Niall Molloy was originally from

. He had been friends with Therese Flynn since childhood, and they had shared an interest in horses. In the 1960s, Father Molloy inherited

IR£ The pound (Irish: ) was the currency of the Republic of Ireland until 2002. Its ISO 4217 code was IEP, and the symbol was £ (or IR£ for distinction). The Irish pound was replaced by the euro on 1 January 1999. Euro currency did not begin cir ...

60,000 from his father, which he used to start in business. He had been business partners with Therese Flynn and they had owned horses and land jointly. Father Molloy had a room in Kilcoursey House, the house owned by the Flynns.

Files on case

The

Director of Public Prosecutions The Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) is the office or official charged with the prosecution of criminal offences in several criminal jurisdictions around the world. The title is used mainly in jurisdictions that are or have been members o ...

' case files on this death were among other files stolen by "The General",

Martin Cahill Martin "The General" Cahill (23 May 1949 – 18 August 1994) was an Irish crime boss from Dublin. He masterminded a series of burglaries and armed robberies, and was shot and killed while out on bail for kidnapping charges. The Provisional Iris ...

. Details from the files were later published by

Veronica Guerin Veronica Guerin (5 July 1958 – 26 June 1996) was an Irish crime reporter who was murdered by drug lords. Born in Dublin, she was an athlete in school and later played on the Irish national teams for both football and basketball. After stud ...

in ''The Sunday Independent'', revealing a possible conflict of interest by the presiding judge in the trial of Richard Flynn.

Later developments

In 2010, two people were questioned in relation to the death of Father Molloy. In 2011, new medical evidence claimed that several hours passed between the fatal injury and help being sought. In 2012, Gardaí confirmed that members of the National Bureau of Criminal Investigation were investigating the priest's death as the result of new evidence. Valuable items belonging to the priest, including several paintings and a horse vanished after his death. It also emerged that the judge had known the defendant in the trial and should not have heard the trial. The Molloy family do not believe that Richard Flynn killed Father Molloy. In 2013, the

finished a review of a Garda investigation into the killing and announced that no charges would be brought. His family have said that they will press for a commission of inquiry into his death. In 2022, an investigation by RTÉ Investigates found an account of the incident written by Flynn which was not available to the prosecution at the time of the trial.

References

External links