Mayo farmer Padraig Nally’s funeral cortege passed through the village of Cross on Monday before his burial at Cross East cemetery.
Hundreds of mourners, including his sister Maureen and a wide circle of friends, attended his funeral service at the Church of The Sacred Heart, according to local media reports.
Mr Nally (81), who died last Friday at University Hospital Galway, came to national prominence in 2004 after shooting dead John “Frog” Ward who had been trespassing on his farm near Lough Corrib on the Mayo-Galway border.
The following year, Mr Nally received a six year prison term for manslaughter but this was quashed in 2006. In a subsequent retrial, Mr Nally was found not guilty of manslaughter at the Central Criminal Court.
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The case sparked a nationwide debate - the farmer’s supporters welcomed the court’s ruling which simultaneously dismayed members of the Travelling community, of which Ward was a part.
“I think of what happened all the time. It is always on my mind,” Mr Nally had said at the conclusion of his legal battle.
Mr Nally never appeared comfortable with his notoriety.
“I am known all over Ireland. I got thousands of letters and many cards and Mass requests while I was in prison,” he said at the time. “Even while I was in Dublin, people came up to me on the street wanting to shake my hand.”
Ward (43), who was survived by his wife Marie and their 11 children, had accumulated approximately 80 convictions for a range of offences including burglary, larceny and assault.
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