Courts / Tipperary / Report

Patrick Quirke told gardai he was "afraid" of "vicious" Mary Lowry

Date
2019-02-28

Stage
Trial

Primary locality
Thurles

Summary

Patrick Quirke, 50, of Breanshamore, Co. Tipperary, pleaded not guilty to the murder of Bobby Ryan, a part‑time DJ known as Mr Moonlight, who disappeared on 3 June 2011 after leaving his girlfriend Mary Lowry's home. Quirke told Gardaí he feared Lowry, describing her as "vicious" and "verbally abusive", and claimed his only crime was an affair with her. He said he did not kill Ryan and that someone else was responsible. Quirke gave voluntary cautioned statements at Tipperary Garda Station on 16 May and 21 May 2013, detailing his movements on the day Ryan vanished and when he discovered Ryan's body in a tank on Lowry's farm. He explained he avoided Lowry because he feared her, and that he had been shocked when he saw the body. The court heard Quirke's statements and his account of his relationship with Lowry, including an affair that began in 2008 and ended after Lowry's husband died in 2007.

Who, what, where, when and why

What: Report matter: Patrick Quirke told gardai he was "afraid" of "vicious" Mary Lowry. Charges or matters: the murder of Bobby Ryan, a part-time DJ going by the name Mr Moonlight. Procedural stage: trial

When:

June 3, 2011 Other
April 2013 Other
May 16, 2013 Other
May 21 Other
January 2008 Other
March 2012 Other
December 2010 Hearing Or Sentence
December 15th Other
August 2011 Other
September 2011 Incident
January 2012 Incident
2019-02-28 Publication

Why: He thought there was water in the tank by the old milking parlour because a leak in the mains some weeks earlier had spilled water into it for two days. CNI source report