Drizzle fell as a stream of cars
began to arrive on Monday into Tubberclair, near Athlone a half an hour
before the funeral mass began.
Two hundred mourners had come to mark the passing of Richard Flynn,
a man acquitted of assault and manslaughter of a priest in a trial that
lasted less than a day, 30 years ago, which still remains
controversial.
Mr Flynn’s daughter Sandra read William Butler Yeats’s The Lake Isle of Innisfree, while his grandchildren brought gifts at the start of the service, remembering his life.
They included a photograph to show
his love of family, a rugby ball marking his passion for sport, an
Irish language book for his love of Gaelic and a radio for his abiding
interest in current affairs.
Later, the Galway-born native, who
had lived into his 80s and died in a nursing home after a long illness,
was laid to rest beside his late wife Therese in the cemetery adjacent
to the church.
Truth
Mr Flynn’s passing closes another chapter in the unsolved killing of Fr Niall Molloy in 1985, though the priest’s relatives believe that the truth is still to be uncovered despite the passage of the years.
It was a case that shocked and
fascinated: a priest found dead in the bedroom of a prominent business
couple in 1985 was the stuff of popular soap operas, like Dynasty and Dallas, but not life in a rural village in the Irish midlands.
In the words of The Observer,
one of many international titles to follow every twist and turn, it
offered a “rich mix” of religion, high finance, horse breeding and even
politics.
For the Roscommon-born Fr Molloy, July 7th began as usual, with the celebration of Sunday Mass in his parish of Fuerty.
Later, however he made his way to Clara in Co Offaly.
There, he went to Kilcoursey House, the home of his friends of three decades, Richard and Theresa Flynn to join in the revelries of a family wedding that had taken place the day before.
He was a frequent visitor to the
23-roomed Tudor-style home.
The former Army Chaplain shared an interest
in horses and show jumping with the Flynns, who owned and ran a number
of businesses in the Midlands.
Within hours, however, the keen
horseman was found dead in the house’s master bedroom: the exact time of
death remains uncertain, like much else that night, but it was sometime
between 10pm and the early hours of Monday.
Emergency Services
His face was bloodied and bruised.
His body showed no defensive marks.
A long bloody dragmark on the white
bedroom carpet suggested the body was moved.
Blood smears and spatters
were evident in the room and elsewhere.
Emergency services were never
called.
Medical evidence later suggested the priest may have been alive
for several hours after the assault.
Richard Flynn telephoned a
now-deceased local priest at 1am to come and be prepared for an
anointment.
It was after 3am before local
gardai were alerted.
By this time the family doctor, who like many
others in the story is now dead, was at the house, as were other members
of the Flynn family; Therese Flynn had been taken to hospital.
When questioned, Richard Flynn
admitted he was the culprit.
Charged subsequently with the manslaughter
and assault of Fr Molloy the 47-year-old businessman was acquitted of
all charges a year later.
In a trial that lasted less than
four hours, Justice Frank Roe, then President of the Circuit Court,
directed the jury to acquit.
The medical evidence, Judge Roe said, was
inconclusive and it would be improper to convict on Mr Flynn’s statement
alone.
“It is a little bit unusual but
not improper of me to say that no one intended any injury to be caused,”
Judge Roe remarked.
The acquittal came despite Garda concerns over
monies owed to Fr Molloy after a land deal fell through.
A month later, a jury in an
inquest decided, however, that that Fr Molloy had, in fact, died from
head injuries, which prompted a public outcry and calls in political
circles for the case to be re-examined.
Medical Evidence
In 1988 even more questions were
raised when new medical evidence suggested that Fr Molloy had survived
for a number of hours after the assault.
In the years that followed
there were a succession of yet more extraordinary twists and turns.
Files on the case were among a batch stolen from the offices of the Director of Public Prosecutions in August 1987 - in a theft carried out, it is believed, by criminal, Martin Cahill, otherwise known as The General.
In 1988 Therese Flynn was linked
to a fraudulent life insurance claim on Fr Molloy’s life but denied any
wrongdoing or knowledge of the policy, which was eventually paid out to
the Molloy family.
In 1994 there were claims that Judge Roe was known to both the Flynns and Fr Molloy and should not have heard the court case.
The case refused to go away.
New medical evidence was brought to light in 1988 but nothing came of it at that time.
On a rare occasion, after the
trial and inquest, when Mr Flynn spoke to one national newspaper, the
Sunday Independent where he said his “conscience was clear” and that he
had “never lost a moment’s sleep”.
Other features in the case begged
questions about the Garda investigation, the criminal trial and, over
two decades later, allegations of a ‘cover-up involving several arms of
the state’.
‘Cover-up’
In response to these allegations and new witnesses coming forward, the Garda Serious Crime Review Team
(SCRT) embarked on a review of the case in 2010 and spent two and a
half years re-interviewing witnesses and reconsidering evidence.
The
inquiry, however, did not result in any new prosecutions.
And in March 2015 the Government
ruled out the prospect of a public inquiry.
A senior barrister appointed
to review the SCRT findings concluded that an inquiry was unlikely to
establish the truth.
“It is unlikely given the passage
of time, the death of many of the pertinent witnesses and the reluctance
of others voluntarily to give evidence, that any further inquiry would
have a reasonable prospect of establishing the truth,” senior counsel,
Dominic McGinn said.
‘Disturbing’ features
Acknowledging that there were many
“disturbing” features and matters of public concern, McGinn’s inquiry
also pointed to serious failings by gardaí in their investigation.
Despite Richard Flynn’s passing,
the Molloy family continues to pursue a full commission of
investigation: “We don’t believe it’s too late, the truth is still out
there. Individuals with vital information relating to Fr Niall’s death
are still alive and there is still new evidence emerging,” Bill Maher, a
nephew of Fr Molloy’s said.
“As far as the family is concerned
the case is far from over. There are too many shortcomings and glaring
inconsistencies to ignore and we will continue to push for a full
independent investigation,” he added
However, the McGinn report did put
to bed some of the theories that abounded since the death. Frank Roe’s
directed acquittal was “extraordinary”, but it was within the law.
The 109-page report also found no
documentary evidence to substantiate claims that the judge, a popular
figure in racing circles who passed away in 2003, was known to the
Flynns, or to Fr Molloy.
Numerous questions
Nevertheless, the outstanding
questions are numerous.
Why did gardaí not interview guests who attended
the Flynn wedding on July 6th?
Why were no door-to-door enquiries
carried out?
Why was a break-in at Fr Molloy’s
house not investigated?
Why was Fr Molloy’s broken watch returned to his
family without being investigated?
Why was a medical report that could
have placed “a different complexion” on the case not sought?
Why was a statement from Fr
Molloy’s solicitor in relation to a land deal with the Flynn’s not
included in the investigation?
Thirty one years have passed, and the
Molloys are closer to answers.
In July 2015, relatives of Fr
Molloy met with Minister for Justice Frances Fitzgerald to raise their
concerns over the McGinn-identified shortcomings, where they shared
graphic photographic evidence of injuries suffered by Fr Molloy.
The family have since taken a case
against the police force for ‘neglect of duty’ in the 1985
investigation.
The complaint is currently being investigated by the Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission.
“The McGinn report and the Serious
Crime Review Team identified numerous breaches of procedures in the
original investigation, where many basic enquiries or checks were not
carried out,” Mr Maher, a nephew of Fr Molloy’s said.
“There are still too many
unanswered questions. We want a full investigation into all aspects of
Fr Niall’s death, from day one onwards, including the Garda
investigation or lack thereof and we will continue to push for that,” he
added.