Longford woman embroiled in 3am street row bound to the peace

A woman who became involved in an early morning altercation with another woman, following which her husband sustained “significant head injuries”, has been bound to the peace for 18 months.  

Zeta Keenan (32) of 37 Palace Crescent, Ardnacassa, appeared before Longford District Court on a charge of having committed an affray with Margaret Doyle.

The incident, which occurred on June 3, 2024, in Palace Drive, Ardnacassa, Longford town, resulted in Gardaí being called to the address where they also found a man with head injuries.  

In outlining the facts, Sergeant Enda Daly outlined that the incident “arose on June 3 at 3.05am when Gardaí responded to a call about an assault in Ardnacassa.”  

He added that when Gardaí arrived they “discovered a Mr John Keenan at this address with significant head injuries. John Keenan subsequently attended Midlands Regional Hospital for the injury to his head. Gardaí commenced an investigation and established he was assaulted at Palace Drive, Ardnascassa at approximately 2.59am." 

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Sgt Daly continued, “CCTV footage was obtained from the locality after the assault. CCTV footage also showed two females fighting with each other with two males attempting to separate them before the alleged assault occurred." 

“Zeta Keenan, wife of the injured party John Keenan, made a statement where she outlined what had occurred in the build-up to the assault of John Keenan. She identified herself and Margaret Doyle as fighting with each other before her husband was allegedly assaulted. This fight occurred on Palace Drive Ardnacassa, a public place.” 

On July 20, Ms Keenan was charged at Longford Garda Station by Garda Brendan Lynn under Section 16 of the Public Order Act “for having used or threatened to use unlawful violence towards each other.”  

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Defence solicitor Aoife Kelly said her client had cooperated fully with Gardaí on the night in question and had identified herself in the CCTV footage. 

The court heard that Ms Keenan, a mother of three, had five previous convictions, the most recent being on April 8, 2025, for a public order matter for which she received a €350 fine.

Referencing Ms Keenan’s previous convictions, Sgt Daly added, “There were road traffic matters in 2022 and then matters back to 2013, in Carrick on Shannon for theft. She received a three month suspended prison sentence, and at Longford in 2013, she received a suspended two month sentence for affray.”  

Solr Kelly explained that Ms Keenan’s husband, John, was currently serving a lengthy sentence in prison which left her as the lone carer for their three children. She added that her client accepted full responsibility for the incident and is not trying to minimise it in any way. She is ‘very remorseful and apologetic for her behaviour’.

“How did this all start at 3am in the morning?” Judge Owens inquired to which Ms Kelly referenced a probation report prepared in February which set out her personal circumstances.

Solr Kelly continued, “That report was very positive. It said she arrived on time, if not early, for every appointment, and presented well...” at which point Judge Owens pointed out, “Yes, but she didn’t present well on this matter!” 

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“It seems to me that the court has to ask itself, is it the incident that involved these two ladies that gave rise to the incident that involved a very significant assault on her husband?” the Judge continued. “So what sense of responsibility has Mrs Keenan taken for that?”  

Solr Kelly replied that her client had “made admissions straight away” and reiterated the point that she had also pleaded guilty.

“Well, that’s easily enough done after the fact”, remarked Judge Owens.   

After it was determined that no further issues had arisen between the two parties since the incident, Judge Owens assigned Ms Keenan to a €300 peace bond for a period of 18 months and instructed her to bring a cash lodgement to the court on May 5.