A MAYO MAN has been jailed for four years for the rape of his nine-year-old cousin in a shed on his family farm 18 years ago.

Noel Gallagher (33) of Dadreen, Louisburg, Mayo, had pleaded not guilty at the Central Criminal Court to anal rape of Dylan Gallagher (27) in Louisburg on a date between 1 October, 2006 and March 2007.

Mr Gallagher waived his anonymity allowing his cousin to be named. 

Noel Gallagher was 15 years old at that time. He was convicted by a jury following trial last April.

Maurice Coffey SC, defending, told Mr Justice David Keane that his client does not accept the jury’s verdict and maintains his innocence.

The court heard that Dylan Gallagher eventually told his parents about the incident in December 2019.

As a child he would visit his grandparents regularly and then go on to visit his uncle’s – Noel Gallagher’s father’s – farm. The rape occurred in a shed during one of these visits.

Reading his victim impact statement into the record, Mr Gallagher said: “It was never going to be easy for a male victim to come forward, especially when there is family involved.”

“This has had and will continue to have a profound impact on my life going forward. The courage it took to break the silence is immense, but I hope my actions can pave the way for others who face similar horrors,” Dylan Gallagher said.

Mr Gallagher said he recalled a photograph being taken of him in the back garden kitted out in his Mayo gear in the run up to the All-Ireland Final in 2006.

“I remember that boy as being happy and cheerful with no worries and loving life. That was before this happened and I changed forever.”

He said: “I was only a nine-year-old boy when I was raped by my 15-year-old cousin… It was just a normal Sunday, I had attended mass with my family and headed over to my grandparents after our dinner.

“The nine-year-old I was didn’t know what was going on as I was forced to do what I was told by an older cousin I trusted.”

He said the rape was a “horrific incident” that had a major impact on his life.

“It is a disgusting memory I will never be able to forget. For years I thought I was different from everybody else.

“Every day I looked in the mirror as a child and even to this day, I will always have that gruesome memory in the back of my head. It will never leave.

“Anytime I look through old photos I can always pin-point if it was before or after the rape, I was always anxious, afraid and lacked in confidence,” he continued.

“Suicidal thoughts were entering my head weekly because what happened me as a nine-year-old boy.

“I constantly lied to my mother when she sat on the bed beside me asking me if I was OK and what was wrong, especially when I wouldn’t return home for days. I deceived her for years,” Mr Gallagher said.

“I put my family and siblings through hell because of what had happened. I simply couldn’t bring myself to tell them. I felt disgusted.

“My family have been deeply affected by my behaviour over the years, disappearing for weekends and drinking because I couldn’t cope with it.

“The depression and overwhelming disgust with myself because of what had happened to me made it increasingly more difficult to cope,” he said.

“I suffered for many years, mentally, psychologically and emotionally. If I had not come out and told the truth I would not be here today to tell my story.

“I have been suicidal for many years until I told my family in Christmas 2019,” Mr Gallagher said.

He spoke of how difficult it had been to tell his family, particularly his father, as it was his side of the family.

“Seeking justice and reclaiming my voice gives meaning to the suffering, ensuring that no one else has to endure what I experienced,” Mr Gallagher said.

Mr Justice David Keane had adjourned the case having heard evidence last week to give him time to “carefully consider” the victim impact statement, the testimonials handed in on Noel Gallagher’s behalf and a probation report that had been prepared for the case.

Today he jailed Noel Gallagher for four years and imposed a two year post release supervision order.

Mr Justice Keane said Dylan Gallagher’s teenage years “were blighted by the damage caused to his relationship with his parents” before he acknowledged that as Mr Gallagher stated in his victim impact statement – he has now sought justice and reclaimed his voice.

“It was impossible to listen to the victim impact statement given by Dylan Gallagher without intense admiration for his strength and resilience,” the judge commented before he also praised him for “the quiet dignity and perseverance he had demonstrated during the long legal process”.

Mr Justice Keane said the aggravating factors were Dylan Gallagher’s young age at the time and the profound impact the offence had on him.

He set a headline sentence of eight years which was reduced to five years having taken into account Noel Gallagher’s age at the time of the rape.

Mr Justice Keane took into account that Noel Gallagher has no other convictions.

He said he could not give him any credit for a guilty plea as he continues to deny the offence and doesn’t accept the jury’s verdict.

“He has shown no remorse, no apology and has made no amends,” the judge said.

Mr Justice Keane reduced the sentence to four years after he commented that he saw “no logical basis to suspend any portion of the sentence”.

Detective Garda Anna-Marie McHale told Cathleen Noctor SC prosecuting that Dylan visited his cousin regularly on a Sunday while his family were visiting his grandparents.

He told gardaí that on the day of the rape Noel Gallagher suggested they go to the family’s farmyard.

They were looking around the sheds when he said Noel mentioned the word “sex” to him before he said: “You and me have sex”.

Dylan Gallagher did not know what that meant. Noel Gallagher then pulled down his trousers and underwear before he raped him.

Dylan Gallagher asked him what he was doing and told him to stop. When it was over Noel Gallagher told him to “keep this our secret”.

Dylan Gallagher later told gardaí that this was said by Noel Gallagher in an aggressive way and it was meant as a warning.

He was confused, dazed and disgusted but he said Noel Gallagher seemed fine.

Det Gda McHale said Dylan Gallagher did not understand what had happened. He tried to get out of going to visit his cousin’s home after that. He disclosed the rape to his family in 2019.

Noel Gallagher was arrested but “refuted the allegation”. He has no previous convictions and is a married man with two children.

Det Gda McHale agreed with Mr Coffey that Noel Gallagher has not come to any garda attention at all.

She also accepted that while he has maintained his innocence he has been co-operative with the investigation and did not cause any issues for the gardaí.

Mr Coffey told Mr Justice Keane that it was a very sad case involving cousins when his client was also a child and the victim was younger than him by a number of years.

He said Noel Gallagher’s youngest child was born around the trial and he has not been able to spend much time with the child due to the fact that he was on remand in prison.

Mr Coffey told the court that his client was very industrious, has no history of substance abuse and the Probation Service are not in a position to carry out a risk assessment on him as the rape was committed so long ago.

Gallagher has been on 23-hour lock up during his remand which counsel said he has found “very difficult”.

“It appears to be a once-off incident that occurred while he was an immature child of 15,” Mr Coffey submitted to the court.

A number of testimonials and letters were handed into court in which Gallagher was described as “a comforting friend” and that his “best quality is his love and devotion to his family”.

“Those letters are important as it speaks to the other side of Noel Gallagher, father, provider, hard-working industrious person that he is – a good friend,” Mr Coffey submitted.

Counsel asked the court to take into account that there was “no coercion or threats” issued to the victim.

He suggested that the court “take some solace” that in the intervening years he has not come to garda attention in any matter and asked the court to accept that “the moral culpability of a 15-year-old could be extremely lacking as compared to that of an adult”.