The Special Criminal Court has heard Shane Geoghegan's girlfriend received a text message from him minutes before he was shot near his home in Limerick.

Jenna Barry today gave evidence at the trial of John Dundon who denies murdering the Garryowen rugby player at the Clonmore Estate, Kilteragh in the early hours of Sunday November 9th 2008.

The 31-year-old of Hyde Road in Limerick is accused of ordering a killing that led to the 28-year-old being shot in a case of mistaken identity.

This afternoon, the non-jury court heard Jenna Barry sent a text message to Shane Geoghegan at 12.53am to say she was putting on a DVD. She said he replied by text that he was on his way.

Not long after this she said she heard two loud bangs which she believed were fireworks.

The court heard when she opened the door of her house she saw a man wearing a hooded top and jeans running in the middle of the road. She said the wheels of a van screeched and he hopped in the side of a dark coloured space wagon; someone said 'drive drive', and the vehicle sped off.

Under cross-examination she said she could not be sure if the man was carrying anything.

Jenna Barry told the court that she called the emergency services for help and texted her partner Shane Geoghegan at around 1am to tell him that she thought there had been a shooting on their road.

Earlier the court heard from State Pathologist Professor Marie Cassidy that the Garryowen rugby player was shot 5 times in the head and body and would have died rapidly from the gunshot wound to the brain. The trial continues.