Second man found guilty of Kieran Quilligan murder

A second man has been found guilty of the murder of Kieran Quilligan whose skeletal remains were found in a carrier bag in a County Cork ravine.

The 47-year-old was last seen alive on 1 September 2023. He had been missing for five months when his remains were found by gardaí (Irish police).

Luke Taylor, 27, of Cherry Lawn, Blackrock in Cork was found guilty at Central Criminal Court sitting in Cork on Friday.

His co accused, 33-year-old Niall Long, of St Michael’s Close in Mahon in Cork, was also found guilty of the murder of Mr Quilligan on Thursday.

Both men now face mandatory life sentences and were remanded in custody for sentencing on 29 October.

The court heard that Mr Quilligan been beaten with a hammer-like weapon and suffered multiple bone fractures.

However, an exact cause of death could not be determined because of the decomposition of the remains.

In his closing speech to the jury, prosecution senior counsel Donal O’Sullivan said that Mr Quilligan was “lured” to his death.

He stated that Taylor brought him to a laneway at St Finbarr’s Place in Cork city on 1 September 2023 where he and Long “ambushed” him.

Mr O’Sullivan said that the men then threw Mr Quilligan into the boot of a car.

He said that the “instigating factor” in relation to what occurred involved Mr Quilligan stealing drugs from Long earlier that day.