Tadgh Lonergan sentenced for rape; appeals conviction

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

Tadgh Lonergan was sentenced to eight-and-a-half years, with the final 18 months suspended, for rape at the Central Criminal Court in 2024; he appealed his conviction, with counsel arguing on 8 October 2026 that the trial judge deprecated the defence. The rape occurred at a house in Tipperary in June 2021.

The Director of Public Prosecutions argued that the judge had stated facts without expressing an opinion on whether the false-allegation claim was true. The Court of Appeal panel reserved judgment.