A teenager has gone on trial charged with the murder of a 44-year-old postman who was found with “catastrophic facial injuries” in the front garden of his home in Doneraile, Co Cork, last year. The 17-year-old, who cannot be named for legal reasons, went on trial at a sitting of the Central Criminal Court in Cork on Thursday. He is charged with the murder of father-of-five Barry Daly on October 12th, 2025, at Rockview Terrace, Doneraile. He has pleaded not guilty to murder but guilty of manslaughter. Prosecution senior counsel Lorcan Staines gave the jury an outline of the “anticipated facts” in the case. However, he emphasised that this was not evidence in itself. Staines said that on October 11th, 2025, the local hurling club in Doneraile won a Junior B hurling final. This was a “major deal” in Doneraile, and “most of the town went out to celebrate”.He stated that an “an enormous amount of alcohol” was consumed on the night, and that at closing time a melee broke out on the Main Street outside Eily’s Bar. He said the jury would hear evidence that Daly punched the girlfriend of a man called Alex Deady, and that accounts would vary as to whether this was accidental or deliberate. He said the jury would hear that the 17-year-old was one of three young men seen walking in the direction of the home of Daly. He said each of them was seen with a golf club. Staines said the 17-year-old told gardaí that Deady (20), hit Daly once. He claimed he “did not do anything”. However, the prosecution barrister said it was “fanciful” to suggest one blow from a golf club caused the injuries suffered by Daly. He said DNA linked Deady, of Convent Road, Doneraile, to the grip of one golf club, and that the head of the club had come into contact with the head of the late Barry Daly. He said the jury would be relying on circumstantial evidence as to what occurred at Daly’s house. Staines stated that Daly was subsequently found “dead or dying” in the front garden of his house. “He died extremely quickly after the incident. Barry Daly was effectively breathing in blood and died in those circumstances.”He said Daly had sustained catastrophic facial injuries. “One side of his jaw is completely shattered, the other is broken. He has major injuries to the back of his head. The roof of his mouth is broken. “There is a large number of bruises, and a fairly serious injury to his leg consistent with being hit by an object.”Staines added that the onus of proof was on the prosecution, and (the 17-year-old) “does not have to prove anything”.Judge Siobhan Lankford told the jury of seven women and five men that the case had attracted considerable publicity. She warned them not read anything about the case in the media.