The late Fr Niall Molloy.

Documentary on the killing of Fr Niall Molloy to air on RTÉ

The first episode of a two-part documentary centring on the killing of a county Roscommon priest after a wedding in Clara 36 years ago will be screened on RTE 1 tonight at 9.35pm.

'The Killing of Fr Niall Molloy' was made in collaboration with the late priest’s two nephews, Bill Maher and Henry McCourt, who have maintained a long campaign to uncover the truth of what happened to their uncle.

Fr Niall Molloy was found dead in the bedroom of his close friends of over three decades, Richard and Teresa Flynn from Kilcoursey, Clara, on September 7, 1985, the day after the Flynn family had celebrated a high-society wedding in a marquee on the grounds of Kilcoursey House. The priest and Teresa Flynn shared a love of horses and had a successful business partnership buying and selling showjumpers, as well as investing in land and property.

While the priest did not celebrate the wedding, he returned to the house the following day for a lunch hosted by the Flynns, and sometime later than evening a row took place in the master bedroom of the house during which Fr Niall Molloy met his death.

Fr Molloy was from South Roscommon and was parish priest in Castlecoote at the time of his death.

The hard-hitting documentary, the second episode of which will be aired on RTE 1 on Monday, September 13, looks at all aspects of the death of the priest and the controversial court case in which Richard Flynn was acquitted of the manslaughter of Fr Niall Molloy in June 1986 on the instructions of presiding Judge, Frank Roe, before the case was allowed to go to a jury for decision.

Since then the controversial events of that fateful night in Offaly have haunted the Molloy family, who have waged a tireless campaign to uncover the truth of what transpired in the Flynn home in Clara 35 years ago.

During the four-year development of the documentary on the killing of Fr Niall Molloy by Flawless Films producer, Sharon Lawless, and researcher, Maresa Fagan, met with the priest’s two nephews to discuss some of their findings, and ask further questions about the case.

The documentary promises to unveil “a couple of surprises for the cousins” according to the programme notes from RTE.

Despite the fact that the unsolved death of Fr Molloy has been considered to be an open investigation since 1985, a GSOC investigation in 2016 found that many original documents, including exhibits, were missing.

During the second part of the documentary, the programme-makers reconstruct a replica of the master bedroom in the Flynn’s house on the night Fr Molloy met his death. The set was constructed to the exact specifications of the Garda drawings from the scene, and among those who walk through the replica bedroom and talk through the evidence from the scene are former Northern Ireland State Pathologist, Professor Jack Crane CBE; Forensic Psychologist Dr. Ciara Staunton of UCC and former Merseyside Police Crime Scene Investigator, Angela Doyle.

Both Richard and Teresa Flynn have passed away since the death of Fr Niall Molloy in their family home in Clara 36 years ago. Teresa Flynn passed away in the 1990s while her husband, Richard, died in 2017.