A MAN HAS been found guilty of the murder of a 61-year-old man who was found in a pool of blood at his home in Macroom, Co Cork, having suffered 11 stab wounds and 19 slash wounds.

Daniel Hourigan (33) went on trial at a sitting of the Central Criminal Court in Cork city on 1 July, charged with the murder of Michael Foley.

A jury of six men and six women at the Central Criminal Court in Cork spent 10 hours and 18 minutes deliberating before reaching their unanimous guilty verdict this afternoon.

Judge Siobhan Lankford excused the jury from further jury service for a period of five years. Hourigan was remanded in custody for sentencing on 30 July next.

Michael Foley lived in a Housing First property at Annville, Barrett’s Place in Macroom, Co Cork. He was found dead by care worker Ciara Harmon on 6 February 2024.

Harmon had become concerned as he had failed to attend a medical appointment and was not answering calls. She raised the alarm when she found the victim dead in a pool of congealed blood in the kitchen/living room area of his home.

Hourigan, who is from Farranree in Cork city, gave evidence at the trial.

He indicated that the victim was a “relative through marriage” who had given him shelter when he was homeless in 2023. He stayed with him for six weeks that year.

Hourigan said that he had gone to the home of Michael Foley in Macroom on 31 January 2024 with his then partner Linda O’Flynn. The couple stayed overnight.

He told the jury that he woke during the night to the “sound of the place being broken up.” He said he got out of bed and went to the door of the kitchen where he saw his “freaking out” partner.

He claimed that he said “Linda, what are you after doing?” when he spotted Michael on the floor in a pool of blood.

Hourigan said that O’Flynn refused to call the emergency services. He insisted that he had “no part or role in Michael’s murder.”

Hourigan also told the jury that he had asked the victim to be the godfather of his unborn child. He claimed that at the time he thought O’Flynn was pregnant.

He told the jury that O’Flynn murdered Michael Foley and that he had given gardaí differing accounts of what occurred to protect her. O’Flynn was not a party to the trial.

Jane Hyland, SC for the Prosecution, cross-examined Hourigan. She put it to Hourigan that he had told gardaí a number of different versions of what had occurred in the home of the deceased.

Over the course of the cross-examination Hourigan insisted that he had given varying accounts as he was “protecting Linda from what she had done.”

Hyland asked Hourigan why he hadn’t called an ambulance for a man “who was like an uncle” to him. He stated that O’Flynn was in possession of the phone.

Hyland put it to Hourigan that the blows and wounds inflicted on the victim were made by a person “with strength.” He again insisted that he “didn’t inflict them injuries.”

In her closing speech to the jury, Hyland said that Hourigan told gardaí numerous lies in his garda interviews to protect himself – not Linda O’Flynn.

She said that the deceased was a kind man who offered hospitality to people who were experiencing difficulty in life.

Hyland said that when Daniel Hourigan left Michael Foley’s home: “He is carrying a black plastic bag containing the murder weapon with Michael Foley’s blood on it. We can see Hourigan (on CCTV).

“He put that bag on the bus (to Cork city). When the bus stopped on Western Road (in Cork city), Hourigan went to the back of the bus, he took other things out and left the black bag on the bus.”

Hyland stated that Hourigan’s palm print was found on the architrave of a door at Michael Foley’s house. She said that Hourigan had no explanation as to why his handprint was detected in the blood of the victim on the architrave of the door.

Meanwhile, Dr Margaret Bolster, assistant state pathologist, carried out a postmortem on the deceased.

She told the jury that one of the stab wounds pierced Michael Foley’s right lung causing it to collapse whilst one of the slash wounds penetrated the skull leading to the loss of a lot of blood. Dr Bolster said that slash and stab wounds led to extensive haemorrhage and death.

Michael Foley was a native of Scartagh in Clonakilty in west Cork.