Ireland Crimes and Mysteries

Nearly four years after Valerie French was murdered, her family finally believed they were about to hear the case against James Kilroy.

But the road to a verdict would be anything but straightforward.

In Part Two, we follow the trial process, the evidence heard in court, the psychiatric arguments surrounding Kilroy’s state of mind, and the extraordinary delays that kept Valerie’s family waiting for years.

We also look at what happened after the criminal case, and the legal battles that continued long after the courtroom emptied.

At the centre of it all is Valerie.

Her life.

Her children.

And the family left fighting to make sure she was remembered for far more than the way she died.

This is Valerie French’s Story: Part 2.

David Frenchs book is available to buy online 👇🏻

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In June 2019, 41-year-old occupational therapist and mother of three, Valerie French, was murdered outside her home in County Mayo.

But Valerie’s story did not begin on that night.

In Part One, we look at the woman she was before her name became associated with a murder case. Her childhood in West Cork, her work, her friendships, her love of nature and learning new things, and above all, the three little boys she adored.

We also follow Valerie’s relationship and marriage to James Kilroy, the growing problems those closest to her began to notice, and the events leading up to the night she was killed.

Then, in the days and months that followed, Valerie’s family were left dealing not only with the loss of Valerie, but with questions surrounding her children, the legal system and a criminal case that would take years to reach a jury.

This is Part One of the story of Valerie French.

David Frenchs book is available to buy online 👇🏻

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In February 1936, a small Austin car was found wedged against a barrier at Corbawn Lane in Shankill. Its door and sunroof were open to the lashing rain, and inside there was blood, a soaked towel and an envelope addressed to Lavena Ball.

But Lavena was nowhere to be found.

When Gardaí traced the car back to her home in Booterstown, they began trying to piece together her final day and the events that had taken place inside the house. It would become one of the most extraordinary Irish criminal cases of its time.

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In August 2000, 18 year old Brian Murphy went to Club Anabel in Dublin for the first time. Hours later, he was found unresponsive outside the Burlington Hotel.

What happened that night would lead to a huge Garda investigation, a lengthy trial and one of Ireland’s most complicated and widely debated criminal cases.

In this episode, we follow Brian’s final night, the attack outside the club and the difficult search for answers that followed.

What happened outside Club Anabel and why did the case become so difficult to resolve?

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On a Sunday evening in November 1997, Galway taxi driver Eileen Costello O’Shaughnessy collected a passenger and set off towards Claregalway.

What happened during the hour that followed has never been fully explained. Eileen’s taxi was seen in several places, a number of unidentified people entered the story, and somewhere along that route, something went terribly wrong.

Nearly three decades later, that missing hour remains at the centre of an unsolved murder investigation.

A quick apology for my voice in this episode. I have a head cold, so I sound a little different from usual. Thank you for bearing with me.

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In the summer of 1995, 22-year-old Orla Benson travelled from Killarney to Boston for three months of work. She had just completed her degree in biotechnology and was due to return home within days.

On Friday, the 22nd of September, Orla joined friends for a night out in South Boston. She never made it home.

As detectives tried to establish what happened during the final part of Orla’s night, they uncovered a changing alibi, a violent past and serious failures that reached far beyond one man.

This is the story of Orla Benson.

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At 4.01am on Saturday, the 16th of March 2024, 23-year-old Kelly Lynch left a short voicemail for her mother. Julieanne believed her daughter sounded hurt and was struggling to breathe.

It was the last known contact from Kelly.

The following morning, she was found in the Ulster Canal near Horseshoe Bridge in Monaghan. Her death was initially treated as an accident. But when Kelly’s family learned that 93 separate injuries or marks had been documented on her body, they began asking questions.

What happened after Kelly was last seen on CCTV? How did she reach the canal? And could one fall explain everything recorded on her body?

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In this week’s episode, Nules looks into a Victorian Irish murder that challenged even the most advanced scientific knowledge of the time. When Mary Laura Cross died after weeks of illness, her death was initially accepted as natural. But the actions of her husband in the weeks that followed called everything people thought they knew into question, leading to an exhumation and a discovery that would place her death at the centre of one of the most closely watched murder trials of the Victorian era.

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On 21 June 2020, 14-year-old Noah Donohoe left home in Belfast on his bike to meet friends. He never arrived.

Six days later, his body was found in a storm drain in north Belfast.

In this episode, I go through the evidence heard at the inquest into Noah’s death, including the CCTV footage, the search for Noah, and what the court heard about his final movements.

And six years on, the question at the heart of it is still the same: how did Noah come to be there?

A massive thank you to our sponsor, Revive Active, for supporting this episode. Simplify your mornings with their all-in-one health solution.

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In this week's episode Nules looks into the case of Ciara Glennon, a young woman whose disappearance in 1997 still resonates decades later. On a seemingly ordinary night, Ciara left her friends in Perth after a night out to walk the short distance to a taxi rank, only to vanish without a trace, setting off a search and investigation that would span more than twenty years. Her story uncovers a tangled web of crime, forensic breakthroughs, and relentless hope, culminating in a conviction that finally brings her Irish born parents, family and friends some answers. You'll discover how decades old evidence, modern DNA analysis, and a determined family kept the case alive through the darkest years and how this case became one of Australia's most significant criminal cases.

A massive thank you to our sponsor, Revive Active, for supporting this episode. Simplify your mornings with their all-in-one health solution.

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