You're listening to the mens rea podcast and this is the story of the Siege at Abilara. Oh, The village of Abilara is a small one, barely more than a crossroads, in part of County

Longford that lies close to its borders with both Cavin and West Meath. Its closest town is

Granard barely a 10 minute drive north. One of the roads north through

Abilara leads directly to Granard, slightly to the west. The other heads more to the east

towards the townland of Toni Moore which skirts Lochinale and then on to Ballywillen.

Along that road towards Tunneymore sat a row of five houses.

They were on long, deep plots of land with plenty of space, the houses themselves were modest bungalows.

Behind were fields for farming. A number of families lived in the houses. The

Farrell's lived in the second last bungalow. Next to them were the

Carthies. The Berks were next door to them and the first house that you'd reach on the left

hand side of the road was the Walsh's, cousins to their near neighbors, the Carthies.

The houses were just a 10-minute walk to Abilara's crossroads, and as with so many rural areas in Ireland it was a quiet and close-knit place.

John Carthy was born on the 9th of October 1972.

He was the son of John and Rose Carthy and had one sister just 14 months

younger named Murray. He grew up in the Carthy house that had been built by the

local council in 1906 and which his family had occupied since it was finished.

John and Marie were close in age and very close to one another. They began primary school together on the same day and played together with their cousins in the fields and forests around their homes.

John was a happy child and did well in school. He was known for always having a smile on his face.

He was close with his father who worked his whole life for Bored Nemona and his Uncle Patsy, who had taken over the Carthie family farm and lived just a few

hundred yards from his own house.

But in 1990, John's father passed away after a long illness. He'd suffered badly from bronchitis and problems with his lungs for a long time.

And after a period of being in and out of hospital, John Carthy Sr. passed away on the 12th of April 1990,

...