Five-part series to be broadcast on RTE and BBC

Filming took place in Navan recently for a new five-part televison drama series, believed to be based on the story of the 'Mr Moonlight' murder case in Tipperary, which will be broadcast on RTE and the BBC.

Locations around the town used in the shoot by Dublin-based Conkerfox Film Productions included The Lantern Pub of Watergate Street, the former Foundry Pub on Ludlow Street, St Mary's Church grounds, the Newgrange Hotel, and adjacent public streets.

In May 2019, Tipperary farmer Patrick Quirke, was found guilty of murdering a part-time DJ described as his "love rival". Quirke, 50, of Breanshamore had pleaded not guilty to the murder of Bobby Ryan, 52, known as Mr Moonlight. The jury delivered a majority verdict after a 15-week trial, the State's longest murder trial.

Mr Ryan went missing on 3rd June 2011 after leaving his girlfriend Mary Lowry's farm. His body was found by Quirke nearby in an underground run-off tank on 30th April 2013. The prosecution said Quirke killed Mr Ryan and later staged the discovery of his remains because his lease on the farm was coming to an end and he feared the body would be discovered by someone else.

Prosecutors said the trial was about "love and money" and that Quirke was financially and emotionally dependent on Ms Lowry, so tried to sabotage her relationship with Mr Ryan.

Quirke had told gardaí in April 2013 that he had been pumping water from the disused tank when he discovered Mr Ryan's body. The decomposed body had been stripped naked and left in the tank, covered with a concrete slab.

A post-mortem examination showed Mr Ryan, who was also a quarry worker, had died from blunt force trauma. He had sustained multiple fractures to his skull and to his ribs and leg.

Gardaí found evidence that a home computer had been used to search for the rate of decomposition of human remains in water. The prosecution said this "could not be explained away" and that it would be an affront to common sense to find Quirke not guilty.

Defence lawyers had argued that the case against Quirke was based on a theory and not on any hard evidence. Quirke had been best friends with Mrs Lowry's late husband and after his death the court heard that he offered her support and help on the farm and their friendship developed into a relationship.

The relationship ended, but Quirke continued to have access to the farm under a seven-year lease agreement. The jury heard that the affair was briefly rekindled after Mr Ryan's disappearance.