Mary Lowry – the woman at the centre of doomed love triangle that led to popular Tipperary DJ Bobby Ryan’s grisly murder – breaks silence on RTÉ plan to turn ‘Mr Moonlight’ trial into a TV series as Bansha locals react
Mary Lowry, the woman at the centre of the "Mr Moonlight" murder case, has said she knows nothing about RTÉ's newly announced plans to turn the case into a television drama series. The case centred on the 2011 disappearance and 2013 discovery of DJ Bobby Ryan's body on Lowry's farm near Bansha, Co Tipperary, and the 2019 conviction of Patrick Quirke, who had been having an affair with Lowry and viewed Ryan as a romantic rival. Locals in Bansha and Cashel have reacted with unease and sadness rather than embarrassment, saying they want to protect the privacy of those affected rather than see the tragedy "rehashed".
Ryan, a 52-year-old truck driver and part-time DJ known as Mr Moonlight, vanished after leaving Lowry's home in the early hours of 3 June 2011; his body was found two years later in a disused tank on her farm. Quirke, now 56, is serving a life sentence following what was Ireland's longest-ever murder trial, in which the evidence was entirely circumstantial, no murder weapon was ever found, and the exact time and place of death were never established. The trial heard salacious details including sex tapes, covert recordings and incriminating internet search history, some of which may not feature in RTÉ's drama, and locals close to both Lowry and Quirke's wife, Imelda, have expressed dismay at the broadcaster revisiting the case.
- Mary Lowry says she knows nothing about RTÉ's planned "Mr Moonlight" drama series
- Bansha and Cashel locals are upset RTÉ is revisiting Bobby Ryan's 2011 murder
- Patrick Quirke is serving life after Ireland's longest-ever murder trial (2019)
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Mary Lowry featured heavily in the trial of Patrick Quirke, who was convicted in 2019 of murdering Bobby Ryan, a Tipperary truck driver and part-time DJ known as Mr Moonlight. Ryan went missing in June 2011 after leaving Lowry's home near Bansha, County Tipperary, and his body was found two years later hidden in a tank on her farm. Quirke had been having an affair with Lowry and was said to have viewed Ryan, her boyfriend at the time, as a rival.
The case became one of Ireland's most closely followed criminal trials, notable for its length and for relying entirely on circumstantial evidence, since no murder weapon was recovered and neither the time nor place of death was ever confirmed. Quirke is now serving a life sentence, while Lowry, though never accused of wrongdoing, became a prominent public figure throughout the proceedings because of her relationships with both men.
RTÉ, Ireland's national broadcaster, has announced plans to make a television drama based on the case, prompting renewed public attention. People in the small communities connected to those involved have been considering what this could mean for those still living with the aftermath of the case.
Both sides, in good faith
The strongest fair case each way — we don't pick a winner.
The case for
Those who support RTÉ's decision to dramatise the case would argue that the trial was a matter of significant public record, having played out over Ireland's longest-ever murder trial and drawn intense public interest at the time; revisiting it as drama, they would say, allows for a considered exploration of how circumstantial evidence can secure a conviction, and of the human toll of small-community life under scrutiny. They would note that broadcasters have long dramatised real criminal cases once matters are legally settled, and that doing so thoughtfully can illuminate the justice system and the ripple effects of tragedy for a wider audience without necessarily exploiting anyone.
The case against
Those opposed would argue that Mary Lowry, Imelda Quirke and the wider Bansha and Cashel communities did not choose to be public figures and have already endured years of scrutiny, media coverage and personal loss; turning their trauma into television entertainment, they would say, risks reopening wounds for people still living with the consequences, regardless of artistic intent. They would emphasise that dignity and privacy for those closely connected to a real death should take precedence over dramatic or commercial value, particularly when neither Lowry nor other affected parties were consulted or given any say in the project.