How the boastful killer of Detective Garda Adrian Donohoe was finally brought to justice

The murder outside a Louth credit union in 2013 shocked the country but the fight to secure a conviction was far from straightforward

Detective Garda Aidan Donohoe and (clockwise from right) James Flynn and Aaron Brady in masks, a tattoo on Brendan Treanor’s back with images linked to the robbery; Brady and Flynn. Montage by Shane McIntyre

Andrew Lynch

Detective Garda Adrian Donohoe was not supposed to be working on the night of January 25, 2013. He filled in for a colleague at short notice on what should have been a routine assignment, protecting credit union officials as they transported cash from the Cooley Peninsula to Dundalk town centre. It was a typically selfless act by the 41-year-old father-of-two, GAA coach and Cavan man whose friends called “a gentle giant”.

As Pat Marry and Robin Schiller’s forensically detailed account of the biggest criminal investigation in Irish history shows, Donohoe paid a terrible price for his generosity. At the Lordship Credit Union car park, he and his fellow detective Joe Ryan found their exit blocked by a gang of five men wearing balaclavas. He stepped out of the vehicle to investigate and was almost instantly shot at close range in the back of the head.