Date fixed for appeal of the sentence received by Limerick killer of Joe Drennan

A DATE has been set down for the appeal of the sentence imposed on the man who killed University of Limerick Journalism student Joe Drennan.

It was announced in February that the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) was appealing the sentence given to Kieran Fogarty in Limerick Circuit Criminal Court in January.

READ MORE: 'She lived for her son:' Grieving Limerick family pays tribute to 'larger than life' mother

The case of DPP v Kieran Fogarty was listed for mention in the Court of Appeal, sitting in Dublin, this Wednesday. A hearing date of November 6, 2025, was set down.

Fogarty was speeding, texting and filming on a mobile phone prior to losing control of his car which struck Joe in Castletroy on October 13, 2023. The award-winning young student was waiting at a bus stop after finishing work in a nearby restaurant. 

Fogarty (pictured below) fled the scene after attempting to wipe his DNA from the car. He didn’t offer any assistance to Joe who was “pinned under the car”.

Fogarty, aged 21, Hyde Avenue, Ballinacurra Weston, Limerick, received a six-and-half-year sentence for dangerous driving causing the death of Joe, aged 21. Judge Colin Daly then handed down an eight-year sentence for shooting up a house as part of a gangland feud to be served consecutively. This would have meant Fogarty receiving a 14-and-a-half-year jail term.

Judge Daly then said it was to be served concurrently after prosecuting barrister John O'Sullivan sought clarification. The total of eight years imprisonment was backdated to October 23, 2023, when Fogarty first entered custody.

Members of the Drennan family from Knocknagad, Camross, Mountrath, Co Laois said after the sentencing hearing they were “disgusted”. They said Fogarty “would not serve anything” for Joe’s death and it was an “insult”. The family said the jail sentence imposed on Fogarty has “completely destroyed our lives for a second time in 15 months”.

They say Joe was never in trouble a day in his life but now after his death he has been mixed up in serious criminality through the sentences imposed. 

The family immediately called on the DPP to appeal the sentence. There were protests outside the Dail, a visit to the DPP office by members of the Drennan family and gatherings in solidarity with the family in University of Limerick. 

Joe’s dad, Tim, in a handwritten statement to the Limerick Leader after the sentencing hearing, wrote: “Joe was pinned under the car while Fogarty sat on top of him wiping his DNA from the vehicle. He offered no assistance and just ran away leaving him to die under the car.

“All we ask is that Joe has his own sentence - the maximum under law - because of the way he was left to die. My world and that of my family was destroyed that day.”

Limerick Live learned that Limerick gardai were also extremely disappointed at how the sentencing hearing was handled in January. The investigation was one of the largest and most extensive in the Limerick Garda Division in recent years.

Local gardai hoped that the conclusion of the case would bring the bereft family some comfort to see Fogarty serve a jail sentence for killing their beloved Joe. They supported the Drennan family completely in their campaign for the sentence to be appealed and have supported them in any way they could.