AN INQUEST into the violent death of a father of one and former Republic of Ireland youth soccer star in Limerick City three years ago has been scheduled to take place in October.
Alan Bourke (48), of St Mary’s Park, in Limerick City, was fatally assaulted by Michael Casey (40), of Cathedral Place, at Parnell Street on April 15, 2022.
Mr Casey pleaded guilty to manslaughter of Mr Bourke, and was jailed for six years for the attack.
Casey’s sentencing hearing heard that he assaulted Mr Bourke after a man in his company stole a bag of cans of alcohol from Mr Bourke.
Limerick Circuit Court heard that paramedics tended to Mr Bourke at the scene, however he was pronounced dead as he as being brought by ambulance to University Hospital Limerick.
Mr Bourke, a well-known former manager at a tool plant, had fallen on hard times, the court heard.
Formerly a rising soccer star, Mr Bourke won a Munster Junior Cup medal with Mungret Regional FC in 1994 and was capped for the Republic of Ireland junior team in 1996. His funeral Mass heard he had been a top-class sportsman and had excelled at soccer, rugby, and handball.
On the night he died, Mr Bourke and a friend left sheltered accommodation in Limerick City to buy alcohol, the court heard.
CCTV footage played at Casey’s sentencing hearing showed Mr Bourke walking his bicycle, with a suitcase containing clothes and a sleeping bag, as he went to meet with his friend again.
Mr Bourke had purchased cans of beer and was walking near Colbert Rail Station when he was accosted by Casey and others.
Prosecuting senior counsel, Anne Rowland, told the court that Casey struck Mr Bourke with a “violent and aggressive blow” after another man, who was in Casey’s company and was not before the court, had allegedly taken the bag of cans and would not give it back.
The CCTV footage played in court showed Mr Bourke falling backwards and his head striking the pavement.
Ms Rowland said Casey and the others “callously” walked away, taking Mr Bourke’s belongings as he “was lying on the ground completely motionless”.
A post-mortem examination on Mr Bourke’s body stated he suffered a brain hemorrhage, fractured skull, as well as bruising to his face and forehead.
The court heard that while Casey was being held in custody following his arrest for the attack, he told Gardai: “It was an accident … I was friends with Alan, we laughed and cried together, I hit him, I was drunk, he was drunk … I’m really sorry, and sorry to his family.”
Mr Bourke’s sister, Diane, described him as “a loving son, father, and friend to many”, adding that her family’s lives “changed forever” after his death.
“Alan had the biggest heart and was the apple of his late mother’s eye. We try to remember how he lived and not how he died,” she said.
“I avoid Parnell Street at all costs, it is awful to be scared all the time in your own city. I’m not Alan’s sister anymore, I’m the girl whose brother was killed.”
Sentencing judge Dermot Sheehan said Mr Bourke excelled at sport, but was vulnerable later in his life, and he sadly had experiencing homelessness around the time of his death.
“It was a significant assault, it was a dispute over a bag of cans,” the judge noted.
An inquest hearing into Mr Bourke’s death, in which a cause of death will be officially recorded by the Limerick Coroner’s Court, is scheduled to take place on October 22.
