46 - Tipperary Love Triangle: Patrick Quirke & the murder of Mr Moonlight (Part One)

Mens Rea: A true crime podcast

GoLoud

True Crime, Society & Culture

4.7 • 1.4K Ratings

🗓️ 21 July 2019

⏱️ 35 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Bobby Ryan was a well known and well loved figure in Tipperary. He was a local DJ, known as Mr moonlight, in addition to his work in the local quarry. He was divorced, with two grown up children and in 2011, he was dating a local widow - Mary Lowry. On the 3rd of June of that year, Bobby Ryan went missing. 8 years later, it was spark the longest-running criminal trial in the history of the state. But how did we get here? Part One of this two part series on the recent trial and media spectacle dubbed the "Tipperary Love Rival Trial" delves into the background of Patrick Quirke, Mary Lowry and Bobby Ryan. The events leading to Mr Ryan's disappearance, death, and his ultimate discovery in a run off tank on nearby farmlands are detailed in depth. Find us on Facebook or Twitter! With thanks to our supporters on Patreon! This week’s featured Podcast Promo is for Assassinations Podcast. Take a look at the dark side of history! Theme Music: Quinn’s Song: The Dance Begins Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/ Additional Music: Allemande (Sting) by Wahneta Meixsell. Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/ Sources: Eoin Reynolds, 'Tipperary Murder trial witness denies telling 'devious' lies and adding 'poison' to her statements” from The Limerick Leader https://www.limerickleader.ie/news/home/361482/tipperary-murder-trial-witness-denies-telling-deviouslies-and-adding-poison-to-her-statements.html (31 January 2019) Eoin Reynolds, “Murder trial hears of agony aunt letter an claims of underwear stolen from washing line” in The Journal.ie https://www.thejournal.ie/patrick-quirke-court-4467646-Jan2019/(30 January 2019) Vivienne Traynor, “Tipperary murder trial witness denies asking if gardai could tell if a body was in car boot” in RTE.ie https://www.rte.ie/news/courts/2019/0131/1026699-patrick-quirke-court/ (31 january 2019) Frank Greaney and Stephanie Rohan, “Tipperary murder trial: Witness says she is telling “the whole truth”” from Newstalk.ie https://www.newstalk.com/news/witness-at-centre-of-tipperary-tank-murder-trial-denies-lying-to-jury-486990 (31 January 2019) Nicola Anderson, “Widow claims farmer accused of murder 'took my underwear'” in The Irish Independent https://www.independent.ie/irish-news/courts/widow-claims-farmer-accused-of-murder-took-my-underwear-37768366.html (31 January 2019) Eoin Reynolds, “Tipperary tank Murder: Mary Lowry denies asking if gardai could tell body was in boot” in The Irish Examiner https://www.irishexaminer.com/breakingnews/ireland/tipperary-tank-murder-trial-mary-lowry-denies-asking-if-gardai-could-tell-if-a-body-was-in-boot-901438.html(31 January 2019) Eoin Reynolds, “Woman whose boyfriend was killed and dumped in slurry pit complained to gardai over missing person posters” in TheJournal.ie https://www.thejournal.ie/mary-lowry-patrick-quirke-mr-moonlight-murder-trial-4472575-Feb2019/ (1 February 2019) For a full list of sources for this week's episode, please visit us at www.mensreapod.com

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	You're listening to the mens rea podcast and this is part one of the story of the
0:07.7	murder of Bobby Ryan. Oh, Tipperary is a beautiful part of the country. It's mainly farmland with gently undulating
0:49.6	hills and lush green grass, perfect for cows and perfect for dairy farming.
0:56.4	And it's to a rural dairy farming community we go this week.
1:01.2	In fact, this story involves mainly members of the same family, but it's far
1:06.9	from a typical family feud we're dealing with. This was a drama beyond all proportion and the entire country was fixated and obsessed by it for the greater part of four months this year.
1:22.0	Mary Quigley was originally from the Newport area of
1:26.2	Tipperary where her father had a small holding of 15 acres. As was typical of the
1:32.3	time in the country, the family was large, she was the third of six children.
1:37.0	She began her working life doing accounts and reception for a meat company, where she stayed for 14 years.
1:44.0	She met her husband Martin Lowry while at a nightclub in Limerick, and the two were married.
1:51.0	Martin and Mary built an extension onto Martin's parents' home in Fauna Gown, County Tipperary,
1:58.0	and they had three sons together there.
2:01.0	Martin took over the farming from his father and he kept cows.
2:06.1	The house was very much a working farmhouse and though large with two separate living areas,
2:12.2	it backed right up onto the farm yard and it sheds and outbuildings.
2:17.6	But in 2007, Martin Lowry was diagnosed with cancer.
2:36.2	Initially his medical problems had started with a pain in his knee, which he put down to an old football injury, but he was later diagnosed with the cancer. He became very ill very quickly and passed away that September, leaving Mary on her own on the farm with three small children and her mother-in-law living next door.
2:45.0	Thankfully for Mary the situation was a quite stable one.
2:48.6	Martin had had a life insurance policy and he'd left behind him an investment portfolio too and though there
2:56.2	was no one to take over the farming for her she was able to rent out the land.
3:01.9	And there was a ready and willing tenant for her, her brother-in-law, Patrick Quirk.
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from GoLoud, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of GoLoud and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.