Law graduate Mark O’Sullivan was killed by brother and father

The inquest last week returned a verdict of unlawful killing in the case of Mark O’Sullivan and suicide in the cases of brother Diarmuid O’Sullivan and father Tadg O’Sullivan.

The shooting in October 2020 was the climax of a dispute over the future of the family farm owned by mother Anne O’Sullivan, who had been diagnosed with terminal cancer and wanted to leave the farm to both of her sons equally.

The inquest heard that Diarmuid and Tadg were both unhappy with Mark’s proposed share of the farm, culminating in them shooting and killing Mark before taking their own lives.

Coroner Michael Kennedy told the inquest he would normally offer condolences to the immediate family, but there was nobody left alive as Mrs O’Sullivan had died in April.

The inquest findings are being reviewed by An Garda Síochána to establish whether it should change how it responds to reports about safety concerns where people with firearms licenses are involved, The Irish Times reports.