Tom Niland lies in a grave in west Sligo. The grave faces the majestic Ox mountains. Behind it is the Atlantic Ocean.
The only child of Roger and Molly Niland, the late farmer is buried with his parents in the well-tended St Mary’s cemetery in Skreen, located about a 25-minute drive west of Sligo town.
The words on the gravestone are the only giveaway to the brutal manner of the 75-year-old’s death, at odds with the serenity of his resting place: “Died, 30th September 2023. Tragically, following a violent assault.”
Niland grew up in the nearby townland of Doonflin. He lived and worked around his home area all of his life. A tall man, he was remembered as a hard worker, helping his father on the family’s farm and, from his teens until his retirement, on the substantial farm of his neighbours, Mary and Gordon Kilgallen.
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For his family and the close-knit rural community he lived in, the quiet bachelor farmer was as much a fixture of their local landscape as Knocknarea, the imposing hill where Queen Medb’s cairn stands on the summit.
The violent assault that ultimately cost him his life almost two years later occurred in his home of 30 years, obtained from the local council after his family home, an old stone cottage across the road, fell into disrepair.
Niland loved this second home, a small modern bungalow with stunning views of the Atlantic and the mountain range dominated by Ben Bulben. Located at the side of the busy main N59 road between Ballisodare and Ballina, it was his sanctuary. A devout Catholic, he hosted a Station Mass in the home before the tradition began to fade.
Despite severe injuries suffered in an attack on January 18th, 2022, described as “savage” by a judge, Niland managed to give an account of what happened at his home that night before his condition deteriorated.
He was watching the television soap Emmerdale when he heard a knock on his front door and, assuming it was a neighbour, opened it.
Three men with covered faces pushed him back into the hall, demanding money. He tried to fend them off but was knocked to the ground and brutally kicked and punched. His house was ransacked. They left with just €800.
“They gave me an awful doing,” he said.
Badly injured and bleeding profusely, he staggered outside and tried to make his way in the dark night across the main road with traffic veering to avoid him.
His neighbour Anna Calpin and her daughter Fiona, whose home was almost directly opposite, were out walking. When they saw Niland in the middle of the road, his face was so bloody and beaten Anna did not recognise him until he spoke.
Emergency services were called and he was taken to Sligo University Hospital with severe brain injuries, a fracture to his eye socket and multiple rib fractures. His condition deteriorated. He died 20 months later. A doctor described his condition as the worst case of neuropathy – nerve damage – he had ever seen.
Michael Walsh, who lives in nearby Templeboy, was close to Niland, his oldest cousin. Walsh spent his early years in England but his family returned to Sligo every year to spend time with his grandmother and other relatives.
During their eight-week annual holidays, Walsh spent many happy times with Niland, who cycled with his mother Molly twice weekly to his grandmother’s house at Glen Easkey. Despite the nine years between them, the boys were close and both were spoilt by Molly with chocolate and minerals.
Walsh and Niland played football.
“I wasn’t very good but he was very patient,” he recalls his older cousin.
Niland, he says, was big and strong but also shy and gentle – “a bit of a loner”. He was sometimes bullied at school and his mother was fiercely protective of him, Walsh says.
After leaving school, Niland’s life revolved around his farm work. He worked 54 years for the Kilgallens, his neighbours, and was an important support for Mary Kilgallen and her three sons in running their farm after her husband Gordon died.
Niland appeared content with his life, says Walsh.
“I would say he was very grounded,” he says. He enjoyed listening to country music and having a pint but he was “not a big drinker”.
The teetotal Walsh sometimes drove his father and Niland to a local pub for a drink where Niland was often drawn by other farmers into conversations because he was regarded as an expert on cattle prices.
“He was quiet and wouldn’t start the chat himself but he could be drawn in,” he says.
“I never heard him use bad language,” he also recalls, smiling. “The worst he would say is ‘the hoors, the hoors’.”
Niland was very close to his parents and took good care of them. His father died in 1983, aged 82 and his mother survived another five years. When she died in 1988, aged 75, Niland, now alone in their home, was devastated.
His cousins and community were very important to him, even more so after the death of his parents, says Walsh.
Niland regularly visited Walsh’s sister, Sandra Culkin and her family. He helped with the care of her father. He took the family to Mass and on trips to the seaside. Niland loved walking the family dog Jessie, taught her daughter how to make St Brigid’s crosses and, when the girl was younger, brought her to the farm every Easter to bottle feed his pet lambs.
In retirement, Niland finally got some deserved relaxation and joined the local men’s shed where he enjoyed their company and projects.
The manner of his death has not just devastated their family; it has affected the entire community, says Walsh.
“It has made people fearful. It’s often referred to when a crime happens elsewhere. People say: ‘Look what happened in our own townland’.”
Outside a neighbour’s house, Walsh points to a smart doorbell, which notifies owners on their device of callers to their home. “A lot of people have these now,” he says.
He voices deep gratitude for the support the family has received after the assault and up to, and since, Niland’s death.
“I’ve never experienced anything like it,” he says.
When he produces a large box of cards of support, his wife Marie remarks there are many more stored in their attic.
“We got cards from every county in Ireland I think, from all over,” she says. “There were cards from England, New York. We got one from El Paso from a church group saying they would pay for Tom to go out there for a holiday if he recovered.”
Some cards brought some welcome light relief, she adds. “One woman offered to bring her cow into the hospital, thinking it might help Tom because he was a farmer.”
People also sent religious scapulars, medals, prayers and relics, some of which were buried with Niland.
Walsh is still haunted by witnessing his cousin’s painful deterioration over those 20 months. In the earlier stages, he saw a frustrated Niland trying and failing to move hands that once easily handled farm animals and performed heavy work.
The family found it almost impossible to witness his pain and tears as he struggled to breathe. Suctioning was frequently necessary because he could not swallow.
Walsh was with his cousin when he died in the early hours of September 30th, 2023.
“I was sad for us but relieved for Tom, that his suffering was finally over,” he says.
The family are very appreciative of the care Niland received at the hospital. When his remains were removed, doctors, nurses and hospital staff, many in tears, formed a guard of honour outside.
They are also full of praise for the painstaking Garda investigation, culminating this week in the jailing of three men for Niland’s manslaughter.
They also praise their “wonderful” community who spent days combing the area around Lough Easkey in the “worst possible weather” in early 2022. A kayaker found Niland’s wallet near the lake but the community’s efforts led to the discovery of gloves used by the attackers.
Walsh was among several family members, neighbours and friends of Niland who travelled from west Sligo for this week’s sentencing hearing. He and his sister Sandra gave powerful victim impact statements to the court.
On Thursday, John Irving (31), of Shanwar, Foxford, Co Mayo, who pleaded guilty to manslaughter six days into his trial last July, was jailed for 15 years. Francis Harman (58) of Nephin Court, Killala Road, Ballina, Co Mayo; and John Clarke (37) of Carrowkelly, Ballina, had pleaded guilty to the same offence some months before the trial opened. They were jailed for 14 years.
The outcome, says Walsh, was “as good as it could be”. He cannot fathom how any person could commit such a crime and regards it as inexcusable.
“Everyone has choices in life.”
Judge Paul McDermott spoke for many when, at the outset of his sentencing decision, he said Niland was “the most central and important person” in the case.
“He, and his life, should not be defined by how he died but by how he lived,” said the judge.
Niland’s family and community hope their relative – a man who lived quietly and gently – can now rest in peace.
