A MAN pleaded guilty before a court to dangerous driving causing the death of his niece. He also pleaded guilty to, on the same day in question, producing a machete.
Danny O’Donoghue (42), of Lower Main Street, Rathkeale, County Limerick, admitted the offences before Limerick Circuit Criminal Court.
Mr O’Donoghue appeared before the court via a video-link from Portlaoise Prison, where he is currently being held on remand.
He admitted one count of dangerous driving causing the death of his niece, Marguerita O’Rourke (née Sheridan), at Bank Place, Rathkeale, on December 21, 2024.
Ms O’Rourke, of Roches Row, Rathkeale, had given birth to her first child, a son, three weeks prior to her death.
The young mother had been closing steel gates at a property on Bank Place when Mr O’Donoghue struck the gates, killing her.
O’Donoghue’s barrister, senior counsel Michael Bowman, instructed by solicitor Michael O’Donnell, told the court that “the tragic deceased was actually the niece of the accused”.
Judge Colin Daly said it was a “sad case indeed”.
The judge said that as “there is some sensitivity to this, I believe Mr O’Donoghue’s sentence hearing would benefit from an afternoon to itself. The evidence is likely to take some time, possibly an hour.”
Prosecuting barrister Lily Buckley told the court that “the deceased was 21 years of age and her husband is currently in the United Kingdom. Victim impact statements will have to be canvassed. The deceased’s parents, John Sheridan and Margaret Sheridan, will have to be canvassed.” She also noted that Ms O’Rourke “had one brother and a three-week old child at the time”.
O’Donoghue pleaded guilty to causing criminal damage to the gates, property of Mary Teresa O’Rourke, arising out of the same fatal incident last December.
He also pleaded guilty to producing a machete during the course of a dispute and causing criminal damage to a silver Ford Transit Custom van, property of Patrick Sheridan, on the same date.
O’Donoghue was also facing a fifth offence that he threatened to kill or cause serious harm to Patrick Sheridan on the same date.
Ms Buckley told the court that Mr O’Donoghue was pleading guilty to the four other offences outlined “without prejudice”.
O’Donoghue has not sought bail since he was arrested and held in custody on remand last December.
In court, O’Donoghue’s barrister successfully applied for a pre-sentencing report from the governor of Portlaoise Prison as well as a prison educational report in respect of the accused.
Judge Daly remanded O’Donoghue in continuing custody for sentencing on October 29.
Thousands attended a candlelit vigil in Rathkeale last Christmas Eve following Ms O’Rourke’s death.
Large photographs of the late young mother in her wedding dress were erected in and around St Mary’s Church in Rathkeale during her funeral mass. Her remains were brought in a horse-drawn glass carriage to her final resting place at Rathkeale Cemetery.
