An Ennis carpenter carried out a hammer attack on a man and hospitalised him after his victim had messaged the man’s then pregnant fiancé to tell her that he would ‘kick the baby out of you’.
At Ennis Circuit Court, counsel for Alan Mounsey (46) , Patrick Whyms BL said in no way was he trying to justify Mr Mounsey’s actions but said that his client was “subject to an extraordinary level of provocation” concerning a number of messages sent to the woman by Aaron Moloney on February 22nd 2025.
Judge Francis Comerford said that Aaron Moloney had sent ‘vile messages’ to Mr Mounsey’s partner.
Judge Comerford said that he wanted time to consider what sentence to impose on Mr Mounsey stating that the sadness in the case is that the threat to children was the starting point that led to the assault “has the potential to damage other children”.
Judge Comerford made his comment after Mr Mounsey’s partner and victim of the abusive and threatening messages made a statement to court on the impact a prison term on Mr Mounsey will have on her and their children.
Mr Mounsey has been on remand in Limerick prison since surrounding his bail after a jury found him guilty in July.
The young mother now cares alone for four young children and she told Judge Comerford: “Behind these proceedings are children who have no responsibility for what has happened but whose lives have been changed by it. My greatest concern has always been their well being and their sense of safety and stability.”
The woman said: “I understand that the court must make its decision based on evidence and the law. I am not asking the court to take sides. I am asking that the impact on me and the children is understood, including the lasting emotional and practical consequences for a family that has very little support beyond one another.”
The court earlier heard that in the messages via Facebook messenger, Mr Moloney called Mr Mounsey’s fiancé “a tramp” and “a slag” on February 22nd 2025.
The woman – who had her baby in June 2025 – had told Mr Moloney to not message him again telling him that she was pregnant and engaged.
But Mr Moloney – on a cocktail of alcohol and Xanax – persisted and told the woman to send Mr Mounsey down “and I will drive a knife in and out through him”.
Mr Mounsey of Bishop’s Court, Ennis arrived at the door of Mr Moloney’s house in Clarecastle armed with a hammer and assaulted him.
Counsel for the State, Miranda Egan-Langley BL (instructed by State Solicitor for Clare, Aisling Casey) told the court that as a result of the hammer attack, Mr Moloney sustained a fractured leg, fractured ribs, a punctured lung and lacerations to his head and arm and had remain in hospital at University Hospital Limerick for one week.
At the end of a four day trial in July, a jury delivered a unanimous verdict to find Mr Mounsey guilty of the assault causing harm of Aaron Moloney in front of his two girls aged 12 and 10 at the Moloney home at Cluain Art, Clarecastle, Ennis on February 22nd 2025.
The jury also found Mr Mounsey guilty of aggravated burglary at the Moloney home on the same date where he was accused of entering the building as a trespasser and had a claw hammer in his possession.
At his sentencing hearing, Mr Whyms said that his client “is not disputing the jury verdict and is also accepting that he was completely wrong in what he did”.
Asked what he knew about Mr Mounsey, Det Garda Kevin Hooban said that Mr Mounsey had suffered from an addiction in the past but has been doing well for himself for a number of years now.
He said: “He is a hard worker and he was coming across as a person who was doing their best.”
He confirmed that there are a lot of road traffic convictions in the 23 previous convictions and Mr Mounsey’s most recent conviction in 2016.
In court, Mr Whyms (instructed by solicitor, Tara Godfrey) read out a letter of apology from Mr Mounsey to Mr Moloney.
Mr Mounsey said that he wanted to write “to express how sorry I am for the actions and the hurt I have caused Aaron Moloney”.
He said that over the past 20 months has given him an enormous time to reflect on his actions.
He said: “I realise that I let my emotions get the better of me and I acted in a totally inappropriate way and I should have just let the Gardaí deal with it and not gone to Aaron Moloney’s house myself.
He said: “I am determined to never again let myself get involved that could lead to consequences like this again.
“I am a self employed carpenter – I have always taken great pride in my work and have worked hard to provide for my family.
Mr Moloney said: “Since being remanded in prison the last four months I have taken great steps to better myself as a person and taken responsibility for my actions.”
Mr Whyms said that he has assisting with prisoners on carpentry work and making carpentry pieces for charity while also doing yoga, mediation and Crime Awareness and Alternative to Violence courses.
Arising from the ‘vile’ messages he sent to the Ennis woman, Mr Moloney in October 2025 received a suspended three month prison term at Ennis District Court in a ‘Coco’s Law’ prosecution.
Mr Whyms also read out a statement from Mr Mounsey’s partner.
She explained that as a result of Mr Mounsey’s incarceration she is now the sole carer of four children – two children she has with Mr Mounsey, her own child from a previous relationship and a child of Mr Mounsey’s from a previous relationship.
In her statement, the woman said that the abusive and threatening messages towards her and her unborn children came “during one of the most vulnerable periods of my life”.
The young mother said: “My mother was terminally ill in hospital and I was facing the devastating reality of losing her while pregnant with our baby.
She said: “The fear those messages caused me is difficult to describe. At a time when I should have been preparing to welcome my baby into the world, I was instead consumed by anxiety and fear for our safety.”
She said that “one of the most distressing aspects was feeling that my concerns were not being heard. I provided messages, made contact and gave statements about what had happened and how frightened I was”.
“Yet I felt that my worries and my need to feel safe were largely overlooked. While the criminal proceedings continued I felt that the impact on my and my unborn child had been lost in the process. I was left feeling isolated, unheard and without the reassurance I desperately needed.
The woman said that “the cumulative effect on my mental health has been severe, I have spent much of this period feeling anxious, exhausted and constantly on edge”.
She said that “the publicity surrounding the cases has added to my distress, making an already deeply personal and traumatic experience feel as though it was being lived out in public”.
The woman said that as time has gone on, she has become increasingly concerned about the impact on the children.
She said: “I am not responsible for caring for three children and a baby of my own while trying to manage my own grief, anxiety and exhaustion.”
She said that her own parents and Mr Mounsey’s parents have passed on.
She said: “I do my best to keep life as normal as possible for the children but the reality is that every day brings pressures that would ordinarily be shared between two parents. There is no wider family to fall back on when things become too much.
She said: “the past 18 months have taken away so much of the peace and stability I had hoped for during pregnancy and early motherhood.
She added: “Instead of being able to grieve my mother with support, enjoy the arrival of our baby and focus on our children, I have spent this time trying to manage fear, separation and uncertainty while holding our family together.
Judge Comerford further remanded Mr Mounsey in custody to December 15th for sentence.
