Patrick Quirke pleads not guilty to Bobby Ryan murder

This report is a localnews.ie summary based on public court reporting and records; sources are listed below.

Patrick Quirke pleaded not guilty to the murder of Bobby Ryan at the Central Criminal Court. The proceedings were reported on 19 February 2019.

Ryan went missing on 3 June 2011. His remains were found in an underground run-off tank on a farm leased by Quirke at Fawnagown, Tipperary, in April 2013. The prosecution claimed Quirke murdered Ryan so he could rekindle an affair with Mary Lowry, Ryan’s girlfriend.

Garda Gerry Canty told the court that items taken from the tank included bone fragments, a woman’s hair clip, cable ties, tubing, buttons and pipe covers. He accepted that he had not mentioned the hair clip in his statement or notes.

Canty also accepted that a garda exhibits chart listed cable ties, a hair clip, tubing and a pipe cover in a tamper-evident bag, while the chart disclosed to the defence listed only cable ties and pipe covers. Under re-examination, he said he had no role in retrieving, bagging, marking or charting the bag’s contents.

The report said the trial would continue before a jury on Friday. Justice Eileen Creedon said she had matters to deal with in the jury’s absence on Wednesday and Thursday.