RTÉ and BBC to air drama on Mr Moonlight murder case

A major new television drama based on the infamous "Mr Moonlight" murder case is set to air on RTÉ and the BBC, bringing the story of a killing that captivated Ireland to a wider audience. The five-part series, titled The Murder of Mr. Moonlight, is adapted from the book of the same name by journalist Catherine Fegan and will explore the relationships and secrets behind the 2011 disappearance and murder of truck driver and part-time DJ Bobby Ryan. Ryan, known locally as Mr Moonlight, went missing on June 3, 2011, after leaving the farm of his girlfriend, Mary Lowry, in County Tipperary. His body was discovered nearly two years later, on April 30, 2013, in an underground runoff tank on land owned by Lowry and leased by Patrick Quirke. Quirke, a farmer and the brother-in-law of Lowry's late husband, was convicted of Ryan's murder in May 2019 following what was then the longest murder trial in Irish legal history. He was sentenced to life in prison. The prosecution argued that Quirke, who had been in a relationship with Lowry that ended before she began seeing Ryan, killed him to rekindle their affair and because his lease on the farm was ending.