It is understood Kieran Quilligan suffered “quite a savage assault” in the hours before his death.

Gardaí yesterday confirmed that skeletal remains uncovered in a shallow grave in County Cork last Monday are those of the missing 47-year-old.

They have now upgraded their investigation to a murder inquiry and are focusing their efforts on a Cork drugs gang they believe may have been involved.

A post-mortem has now been carried out on Mr Quilligan’s remains; however, Gardaí have not commented on the findings for operational reasons.

Assault

On Newstalk Breakfast this morning Irish Independent Southern Correspondent Ralph Riegel said investigators believe he died violently.

“What we understand is that Mr Quilligan was subjected to quite a savage assault in the hours before his death,” he said.

Suspects

Mr Riegel said the Garda investigation is primarily focused on three main suspects.

“Gardaí have analysed CCTV footage from Cork city centre to determine Mr Quilligan's last known movements and from various [pieces of] intelligence that they've gathered over the past couple of months, they've identified three prime suspects,” he said.

“All are associated with a drugs gang in Cork city centre and one of the theories being examined at the moment is that somehow Mr Quilligan may have fallen afoul of these particular individuals and this gang.”

Kieran Quilligan captured on CCTV. Image: An Garda Síochána

He said the identification of the remains was “no surprise” for Gardaí; however, it took some time for them to be sure they were Mr Quilligan’s.

“Gardaí had to rely on dental, DNA and medical records,” he said.

“They cross-checked previous medical treatments that Mr Quilligan had received over the years with the remains and yesterday evening it was confirmed, firstly, that the remains are those of Mr. Quilligan and secondly, that Gardaí are now treating his death as a murder.”

Mr Quilligan was last seen in Cork city centre on Friday September 1st, 2023, at around 9:30pm.

His body was found in Rostellan, east Cork on Monday after Gardaí carried out a planned search with a cadaver dog.