Postman suffered catastrophic injuries, murder trial hears
Olivia Kelleher
A 21-year-old man and two teenagers have gone on trial charged with the murder of a postman who was found with catastrophic golf club injuries to his head and face in Doneraile, Co Cork last year.
Alex Deady and the two teens were arraigned at a sitting of the Central Criminal Court in Cork on Thursday.
Deady of Glen View, Convent Road, Doneraile, Co Cork said: “not guilty of murder but guilty of manslaughter” when the charge was put to him.
When the charge was put to one teenager, he replied: “Not guilty of murder but guilty of manslaughter.”
When the second teen was arraigned, he said, “Not guilty.”
The two youths cannot be identified for legal reasons.
Lorcan Staines for the prosecution gave the jury of five men and seven women an outline of the case. However, he emphasised that this was not evidence in itself.
Staines said that the case of the State was that the three men were “acting as a team.”
He said that there was a major celebration in Doneraile on the night of October 11th, 2025 as the town won a Cork Junior B title.
Staines said that there was animosity between Deady and the person with the late Barry Daly.
He said that a dispute occurred and it appears that as Daly attempted to break things up, the girlfriend of Deady was accidentally hit.
“He (Alex Deady) was incensed with the belief that his girlfriend was intentionally punched by Barry Daly.”
Daly, who was a father of five, went to his home at Rockview Terrace in the town accompanied by the other person.
Staines said that it is the case of the State that Alex Deady armed himself with a golf club, which was taken off him by a Good Samaritan.
"He (and the two teenagers) armed themselves with golf clubs. They moved in the direction of Barry Daly’s home. As they were going in that direction, another Good Samaritan told them to cop themselves on.
Staines said that Deady and the two teenagers went to Daly's home. He said that it was a “matter of fact” that Daly was found dead or dying in the front garden of his home.
Staines said the fatal incident was not caught on CCTV. He said that the case of the prosecution is that Daly sustained a “very severe golf club blow to the head.”
“We say that they (the three accused) acted together before, during and after the incident.”
“There were plenty of opportunities to say ‘no’ - this has gone too far,”
The trial, which is being presided over by Judge Siobhan Lankford, is expected to last up to five weeks.
Meanwhile, Barry Daly was laid to rest at Old Court Cemetery in Doneraile following his requiem mass at the Church of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin in the town. He is survived by his children and his partner Katie.
