Margaret O’Leary with her now deceased husband Paudie and their children Shannon, Antoinette, Paudie and Ross. She has given evidence on the second day of the trial of the man accused of killing Mr O'Leary.
The widow of a man killed while out on his bike training for the Ring of Kerry sportive has told a court of the moment she heard he was dead.
Margaret O’Leary’s husband Paudie O’Leary was killed in a hit and run in 2012 near the couple's home in Co Kerry.
She told the trial of the man charged with the death that she was standing in the kitchen of her family home when her sister-in-law called to relay news the remains had been found by the roadside.
“All I could hear is that he was dead,” an emotional Ms O’Leary told Tralee Circuit Criminal Court.
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She said she decided not to go to where the remains were.
“I knew he was dead, I didn’t go down. I just could not believe it. It was horrendous.”
She said when she woke up on the morning of July 1st, 2012, at around 8am her husband was already gone out cycling.
This was not unusual as he would regularly go training at 5am or earlier.
Shane Fitzgerald is charged with dangerous driving causing death. He has pleaded not guilty.
She later went to mass with her daughter but when her husband had not returned home in time to bring their two sons to football training, she became concerned.
She rang local gardai to see if there had been any accidents and then family members, who quickly formed a search team.
At 1.15pm she was in her kitchen with her husband’s brother Aeneas when his wife rang him to break the news Mr O’Leary’s remains had been found.
Jerry O’Connor, who is married to the deceased man’s sister, told the court how he had found the body.
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At first he saw a cyclist’s bag sitting on top of a hedge by the roadside. As he proceeded towards it he saw a black cap and mobile phone, which began to ring.
“I knew at that stage that Paudie was at the scene,” he said.
“I knew this was his bag. This was his phone and I said to my wife, ‘Paud is here’.”
He said he saw the remains on a raised part of the ditch behind the hedge. Mr O’Leary’s bike was on top of him.
Paudie O'Leary had left home around 5am on July 1st, 2012, to train for the Ring of Kerry sportive but was killed just 2km from his home. His body was found by family members out searching for him at lunchtime on the same day.
Shane Fitzgerald (22), from Upper Knockeen, Knockduff, Meelin, Newmarket, Co Cork, is charged with dangerous driving causing the death of Mr O’Leary.
Mr Fitzgerald has pleaded not guilty to the charge.
Mr O’Leary, a 42-year-old father of four, died when he was hit by a vehicle while on a training spin at Scrahanfadda, Gneeveguilla, Co Kerry.
He was a farmer and school caretaker and trained children in a local GAA club.
The prosecution is alleging that Mr Fitzgerald drove to Killarney on June 30th, 2012, and visited a number of pubs before drinking in a hotel bar until 4.30am on July 1st.
It is alleged he then drove his car from the car park of Killarney train station at around 5am and soon after hit Mr O’Leary at the spot his body was found.
The State alleges Mr Fitzgerald failed to stop and did not remain at the scene and that he went to the UK within 24 hours and on to Australia within weeks.
The Landcruiser the State alleges Mr Fitzgerald was in when he hit Mr O’Leary has never been found.
The trial continues before Judge Thomas O’Donnell and is expected to last for up to three weeks.
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