Man who caused death of niece weeks after she gave birth is gangster's brother
A MAN who admitted causing the death of his niece after ramming steel gates with a van is the younger brother of a Limerick gangland figure.
Danny O'Donoghue (42) pleaded guilty this week to dangerous driving causing the death of 21-year-old Marguerita O'Rourke in Rathkeale just days before Christmas.
He also admitted possession of a machete, making threats to kill and causing criminal damage to a van.
O'Donoghue who has been in custody since his arrest last December is due to be sentenced in October.
His brother John O'Donoghue is a convicted drug dealer who has also been targeted by the Criminal Assets Bureau.
John recently spent time in Portlaoise Prison before a conviction for a feud-related attack in Rathkeale was quashed on appeal and he was set free last year.
His brother Danny appeared by video-link from the same prison this week at Limerick Circuit Court.
John O'Donoghue
Marguerita O'Rourke, who had her first child just three weeks earlier, had been closing steel gates to a property when Danny O'Donoghue hit the gates, killing her.
The property is not far from the house where John O'Donoghue lives and which has been the target of an attempted pipe bomb attack in the past.
It was also the scene of raid by the Criminal Assets Bureau.
During his two years behind bars, it also emerged in a Cab case that John O'Donoghue was regarded as significant player in massive money laundering scheme.
The senior investigating officer also described O'Donoghue as being 'closely associated' with Eds McCarthy, a leading figure in the McCarthy-Dundon gang.
In the Cab case against a car firm, Bawn Motors, it was highlighted how O'Donoghue had 'established himself as a key figure in the international drugs trade' and has 'extensive criminal contacts with the wider Traveller community'.
It was also stated he had met with Chirsty Keane, the leading member of Limerick's Keane gang at a Rathkeale pub along with one of Keane's most trusted lieutenants Dermot 'Pum' McManus.
Flowers at Marguerita's funeral
Since Marguerite's death family members have continued to post heartfelt tributes to the young woman expressing their huge sense of loss.
Even this as news of the court case went online this week one woman commented: 'My beautiful sister you didn't deserve this l love you so much forever in my heart.'
Her death last Christmas came after a number of incidents of violence in the Co Limerick town during the traditional influx of people ahead of Christmas.
A house was damaged and in a shocking incident in which a BMW X5 was used to smash into property and was then set alight in November.
In October a truck was used to damage a property in another incident and petrol bombs thrown at a house.
Three years ago, Rathkeale saw a terrifying incident during the Christmas period in which a series of vehicles were rammed and written off.
The Sunday World revealed at the time that the incident came as part of a three-way fight for dominance between criminal gangs.
In a video of the aftermath a machete was visible lying on the road.
Just a few weeks before Ms O'Rourke's tragic death, a man was attacked by hurley-wielding assailants and his car smashed up in the town.
Marguerita O'Rourke (née Sheridan)
Today's News in 90 Seconds - July 21st
At one point there were plans to close a number of roads in the town as part of a garda operation did not go ahead after objections from local residents.
Ms O'Rourke's funeral became a memorable as well as a huge vigil in the Co Limerick town, where balloons were released into the sky.
Among the many heartfelt tributes online was one from her brother Freddy, who said at the time it had taken him days to able to put his feelings into words.
He said that Christmas would never be the same, 'not just Christmas; my life will never be the same' and that she had left behind 'a very special boy.'
He added that he couldn't believe he was saying 'rest in peace, our Marguerita.'
Her father John paid tribute to the people who had shown such public support for the family for the daughter he described as 'a true legend.'
Hundreds of family and friends turned out on Christmas at a candlelit vigil in the town on Christmas Eve.
In a social media post he thanked 'the gardaí, nurses, doctors, priests, the settled people in Rathkeale, the Travelling people and everyone for their messages.
'The local shops, hotels for everything and everyone who called to my house and everyone over the world, thank you.'
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Click here to sign up and get it delivered to your inbox every week He claimed that work provided him with structure, identity and pride but he was now 'no longer the same man' as every aspect of his life had been affected. Mr Lee said his family had also suffered as they were looking at a person who had 'faded into someone unrecognisable.' 'The emotional toll is impossible to fully explain,' he added. He described the assault as not a momentary injury but 'a permanent turning point in my life.' Mr Lee urged Judge John Martin for any sentence to reflect the seriousness of Gorecki's offending which had 'taken the remaining years of my life.' Pleading for leniency, Mr Kavanagh said Gorecki came from a relatively poor background and had suffered a lot of tragedy. The court heard his father died when he was very young, while his mother died last year and a brother was killed in a motorcycle accident in Ireland a few years ago. 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