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Ian Bailey to get his ‘final wish’ as ashes set to be scattered

18/06/2025

Ian Bailey will have his last request honoured by family and friends this weekend when his ashes are scattered in West Cork.

The 67-year-old died suddenly from a heart attack in Bantry, West Cork, last year and was cremated just days afterwards.The former poet had been the main suspect in the murder of Sophie Toscan du Plantier for a number of years, but always argued his innocence, saying the accusations ‘ruined his life’.

The French woman was brutally murdered outside her holiday home in Schull in December 1996, and as yet, nobody has been charged with her killing.

This weekend’s ceremony for Ian Bailey is expected to be attended by members of his family, and a number of close friends, including film-maker Jim Sheridan who has always defended Ian Bailey’s innocence.

Sheridan, probably best known for the Oscar-nominated movie My Left Foot, has released a new docudrama entitled Re-Creation, which premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival in New York recently.Defending Ian Bailey, he said ‘A man who probably was 100% innocent has been castigated through life, he lived a horrible life and died a horrible death and has a horrible name. I don’t think he killed her and there’s not a shred of evidence to say he did.’

Ian Bailey’s final wish was to have his ashes spread in West Cork where he had lived most of his life and it’s expected to be a quiet, strictly private affair.