Macroom man was found dead in an 'arc of blood', Cork trial is told

A 61-year-old man was found dead in a pool of blood on his kitchen floor in Macroom after being severely beaten and an arc of blood was found spattered on the wall behind him, and today a 32-year-old man went on trial by judge and jury for the murder.

The prosecution alleged in their opening of the case today at the Central Criminal Court sitting in Cork that 61-year-old Michael Foley was murdered at his home in Barrett’s Place in Macroom on February 1 2024. 

32-year-old Daniel Hourigan, who is originally from Farranree in Cork city, pleaded not guilty to his murder.

Prosecution senior counsel Jane Hyland gave the jury an outline of the anticipated evidence in the case, but stressed that the outline was not itself evidence at the Central Criminal Court sitting in Cork.

Michael Foley was living in accommodation provided by Housing First and a nurse would call twice a week to check on his welfare. He was last seen alive on CCTV near his home at 8.15pm on January 31 2024.

A nurse called to his home on February 6 2024 and entered when there was no answer. 

“She saw, as she went to the kitchen, Mr Foley was dead on the kitchen floor in a pool of blood and around him blood was spattered on the wall and she immediately called the guards. 

"They will confirm what she said was an arc of blood spray on the wall behind him. He had been severely beaten… They immediately commenced an investigation and set up a crime scene,” Ms Hyland said.

The prosecutor said the assistant state pathologist Dr Margaret Bolster found that the 61-year-old died a violent death, including blows possibly from fists and eleven stab wounds and that cause of death was haemorrhage, or blood loss.

Examination of CCTV led gardaí to focus on the accused man Daniel Hourigan and his companion Linda O’Flynn, who is originally from the Hollyhill area of Cork city. Ms Hyland said Daniel Hourigan knew the deceased and had stayed with him in Macroom previously.

Ms Hyland said Daniel Hourigan and his companion were seen arriving in Macroom at around 8pm on Wednesday January 31 2024 and going in the direction of Mr Foley’s house, and leaving the next morning at approximately 11am.

She said that a woman, who was a platonic friend of the deceased, was there on the night and left at 7.30am on February 1 2024 when Mr Foley told her to go. 

Ms Hyland said that this woman returned at around 12.30pm that afternoon. “She heard (but did not see) Mr Foley like he was very very drunk or had something in his throat saying to leave. Mr Foley is never seen again from that time. He never again leaves that house,” the senior counsel said.

Ms Hyland said that when Mr Hourigan and his companion left Macroom after 11am on February 1 2024 they were seen on CCTV, and that “Mr Hourigan was carrying a black plastic bag. This plastic bag turns out to have a knife inside. That knife had the blood of the deceased man Michael Foley."

She said that crime scene examiners found what they would say was a palmprint of the accused man in the blood of the deceased on an architrave of a doorway at the home of the deceased.

Ms Hyland explained what was meant by the response to the murder charge made by the accused when he said: “Not guilty of murder but guilty of assisting an offender under Section 7 Subsection 2 of the Criminal Law Act 1997.” 

She said that in non-legal language “what that means is that he is saying to you that he helped another person when they committed an offence to prevent them being caught” but that he is not guilty of murder.

The trial continues before Ms Justice Siobhán Lankford and a jury of six men and six women.