Limerick county hurler's pub damaged by a meat factory worker wielding a knife

A MEAT factory worker who wielded a kitchen knife after he was thrown out of a rural pub has appeared before Kilmallock District Court. 

Agnaldo Dos Santos, 35, with an address at Thomastown, Cork, was intoxicated and removed from Mike Houlihan’s pub - owned by the well-known former Limerick county hurler of the same name - by a member of staff on August 29, 2025. 

Inspector Gearóid Thompson outlined in garda evidence that Mr Dos Santos returned to the Kilmallock pub at 4.10 am with a large kitchen knife. Using the kitchen knife on the pub door, the man caused €500 worth of criminal damage. 

Judge Patricia Harney commented: “It must have been a very terrifying experience for a rural publican.”

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Dos Santos required the use of a Portuguese interpreter in the court. His Barrister, Nicholas Hall, said that the man works in Dawn Meats in Cork and has no previous convictions. 

Mr Hall said that the man had the knife in his van, to which the judge remarked “it should have stayed in the vehicle”. 

Inspector Thompson said that Mr Dos Santos made full admissions to the gardaí when he was arrested, and that the man has not come to the attention of the gardaí since. 

The judge required the man to return to court with compensation for the publican, and recommended that he write a letter of apology to the victim of the crime. 

She directed that Mr Dos Santos liaise with the Probation Service to see his suitability for engaging with a restorative justice programme. 

Funded by the Court Reporting Scheme.