Four decades after the unresolved death of Patrick Nugent, who died during his tenure as a banquet manager at Bunratty Castle, a new effort to exhume his remains began last Tuesday. The violent and unexplained nature of Patrick’s death in 1984, which is believed by his family from Sixmilebridge, Co Clare to be a murder, led to this fresh Garda investigation. The planned exhumation aimed to confirm the circumstances and grave extent of his injury at the time of his demise.
Helen McEntee, the Minister for Justice, informed the Nugent family two years prior that a new investigation would be launched. This was ordered by Garda Commissioner Drew Harris, addressing certain issues highlighted by retired District Court Judge Patrick Clyne, regarding the initial investigation.
Subsequent to this report and a follow-up Garda probe into the Attorney General’s consideration of the report’s findings, the decision to exhume the remains was made. John and Martin Nugent, the deceased’s brothers, along with their solicitor Kevin Winters, of KRW LAW Human Rights Lawyers, have expressed approval of the undertaking.
Despite initial scepticism about any new investigation, the Nugent brothers chose to publicly appreciate the effort Gardaí put in over the last few years. Agreeing to the exhumation of their brother’s remains, they asserted, was not an effortless decision but one made in the hope of finally receiving a breakthrough and attaining justice.
The family confessed that the proximity of their brother’s grave to their home renders the exhumation an emotionally charged affair. However, they agreed to proceed in the expectation that the results might shed further light on the circumstances surrounding their brother’s death.
The Winters’ family has gone through countless investigations and reviews over a number of years with no one convicted. Mr Winters expressed optimism that a study of Mr Nugent’s skeletal remains could potentially challenge some established beliefs about the case.
The party in Bunratty saw around 60 attendees on the night in question. Guests were treated to a buffet in a venue referred to as ‘the barn’. By roughly 4am, about twelve people were still present when they started hearing strange sounds from a courtyard. Upon investigation, they discovered Mr Nugent suffering from crushing injuries, the cause of his eventual death.
That night, William Ryan, a chef working at Shannon Airport close by and celebrating his own wedding anniversary, was charged with manslaughter in the case of Mr Nugent. However, he was later discharged.
It came to light during the court proceedings that to the gardaí, Mr Ryan had provided three varying accounts of that night’s events. Interestingly, two gardaí officers, not on duty, were among the party attendees.