A profile of Diarmuid Phelan

In March 2022, the High Court was told that law professor Diarmuid Rossa Phelan was a “law abiding citizen” who had “never put a foot wrong” and did not have so much as a parking ticket to his name. He had also been charged with murdering a trespasser on his farm by shooting him in the back of the head.

This was the only time a court heard first hand from Mr Phelan, who did not opt to take the stand during his nine-week trial to give evidence in his defence, as is his legal right.

The court heard details of his professional and private life that painted a broader picture of the father of four – as a barrister, an academic and landowner – than that presented at his murder trial.

The State had objected to bail on account that the barrister was a likely flight risk but over those two days at his bail hearing, Mr Phelan – referred to by his solicitor as “a very honourable man” – insisted there was no possibility of him trying to evade justice by leaving the country.

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