A man pleaded not guilty to the murder of his uncle, whose body was found in a cottage in Connemara in 1997, in the Central Criminal yesterday.
Counsel for the State, Mr Michael Durack SC, said the jury would hear evidence that the man "jabbed" his uncle with the neck of a broken whiskey bottle after he had refused to sign over his house and 20 acres of land.
Mr Patrick Joseph (P.J.) McGreene, aged 29, with addresses at Corrib Park and St Mary's Road, Galway, denied the murder of his uncle, Tom Clisham, (53), on a date unknown between November 24th and December 4th 1997 at Inveran, Co Galway.
He also pleaded not guilty to causing serious harm, with intent, to his uncle, or being reckless as to whether he would cause serious harm.
The jury heard that Mr Clisham was found dead on December 4th 1997, when another nephew came to check on him at the isolated cottage. His body was lying on a bed, naked except for his socks, and domestic animals had caused "significant damage" to him.
Mr Durack told the jury of nine women and three men that the death occurred in an area which, when the sun shone on it, could be "a very fine and beautiful place," but in the winter could be "very lonely".
Tom Clisham was born into "this isolated community" in Inveran, along with a brother and two sisters. His brother died in 1993 and both of his sisters lived in Galway city, where they were married and had children.
Mr Clisham left national school at sixth class and after working for a while for his father, spent the sixties and seventies working in England. His father died in 1981 and he returned home to live with his mother.
Their cottage was a small single-storey two-bedroomed house with a tin roof and on "20 acres of bad land". The family had two cows, two calves, a donkey and some sheep in the hills.
In October 1996 Mr Clisham's mother died. Neighbours would say Tom Clisham was a loner who kept to himself, perhaps drank too much, and was prone to depression.
In spring 1997, Mr Clisham invited his nephew, Mr Martin Sherry, who was unemployed at the time, to live at the cottage with him, and he stayed for seven months.
But at Hallowe'en 1997, through no fault of his own, Mr Sherry was assaulted and hospitalised and stayed for his recuperation with his parents in Corrib Park, Galway.
On November 11th he called on his uncle and told him he would be moving back in once he was better again.
Mr Durack said Mr Clisham's other sister also had a son, Patrick, or P.J., who was born in England and brought to Galway at the age of 10. P.J. left school before his Inter Cert exam and, after working in the US, Germany and Holland, returned to Galway in October 1997, renting a flat in St Mary's Road.
In the last week of November and the first week of December Mr Clisham had not been seen by the milkman or the postman. Mr Sherry and one of his sisters went to check on him on December 4th.
Through a window, they saw Mr Clisham lying on the bed in the small bedroom, naked except for his socks.
He rang the gardai, who shoved the front door in.
The area from the bedroom to the kitchen was covered with extensive bloodmarks and the domestic animals had spread the blood farther about the house.
A Garda investigation found Mr Clisham had collected his dole on Friday, November 21st and went for drinks in various places over the weekend. He had also been seen in a pub in Inveran, Ti Tommy's, with his nephew, Mr P.J. McGreene, the accused, on the night of November 24th. The pair had bought a packet of cigarettes and a bottle of whiskey each.
A friend of the deceased, Mr Michael Folan, told gardai he met Mr McGreene in a pub in Galway after 6 p.m.
Mr Durack said Mr Folan would say that Mr McGreene wanted his uncle to sign over the place to him, and the two decided to get a taxi and go out and see him.
When they got to the cottage Mr Clisham invited them in and the three drank a bottle of whiskey between them. When it ran out, Mr Clisham and the accused went to Ti Tommy's to get more.
On their return rows erupted between Mr McGreene and his uncle over the issue of the land. Mr Clisham was refusing to sign over the property and there was "some pushing and shoving", counsel said.
A whiskey bottle was broken and Mr McGreene started "jabbing" his uncle with the neck of the bottle, the cap of which was still on.
Mr Folan tried to stop him, but Mr McGreene hit him. Mr Folan became afraid of him and left the house.
Mr Clisham was then on the floor. Mr Folan "went on the beer the next day", and for a couple of days told nobody what had happened.
Det Garda Paul Curran of the Technical Bureau's photographic section told the court that he was not in a position to say whether blood marks on the kitchen floor had been brought in on the paws of the dogs, which had "gnawed" at the body.
He said he saw fragments of broken bottle and what appeared to be bloodstains on the floor in front of the fridge in the kitchen.
There was an upturned stool in the area leading into the small bedroom, and a pair of jeans on the bedroom floor also had what appeared to be bloodstains. A religious painting was lying outside.
The trial continues today before Mr Justice Cyril Kelly and the jury.