The jury in the trial of former Clare All-Ireland winning hurler Niall Gilligan has found him not guilty of all charges.
He was on trial accused of assaulting a 12-year-old boy with a stick.
The 48-year-old from Rossroe, Kilmurry, Sixmilebridge in Co Clare, had denied the assault causing harm of the then 12-year-old at the Jamaica Inn hostel in Sixmilebridge on 5 October 2023.
After more than five hours of deliberations the jury cleared Mr Gilligan of all charges.
There were emotional scenes in the court as the not guilty verdicts were delivered.
Mr Gilligan was acquitted of assault causing harm to the 12-year-old boy at the Jamaica Inn Hostel, on 5 October 2023.
The jury also found the 48-year-old not guilty of a second charge of producing a wooden stick, capable of inflicting serious injury, at the same address, on the same date.
The case, before Judge Francis Comerford, began earlier this month at Ennis Circuit Criminal Court.
The boy who sustained injuries is a minor and cannot be named.
There were tears from his family as the not guilty verdict was delivered by the jury.
The incident had happened when the then 12-year-old boy, and his 13-year-old friend, went to the Jamaica Inn Hostel in Sixmilebridge thinking it was abandoned.
The premises was owned at the time by Mr Gilligan and had been subject to vandalism prior to the date in question.
While the two boys were on the property, Mr Gilligan arrived.
The children said they saw him and ran away but the 12-year-old fell while making his escape.
Mr Gilligan had told gardaí in a statement that the boys were inside the building when he met them and he said nobody wanted to see a child injured.
His defence counsel Patrick Whyms had argued that the injuries were clearly regrettable and in his closing argument to the jury he said that Mr Gilligan did not know he was dealing with a child and had not caused this situation.
The prosecution had claimed that he had "lost his cool" and photographic evidence of the bruising and cuts the boy sustained were presented to the jury.
The boy had been treated in hospital.
When Niall Gilligan was arrested, he told gardaí his actions were in self-defence.
Directing the jury before they returned their verdict, Judge Comerford said they could only consider the lawful use of force as a defence, if they found the first encounter with the boy that led to the force being applied had happened in the corridor of the two-storey building and not outside.
The jury also had to consider whether the accused honestly believed that he had to use force for protecting himself from assault or from damage to his property.
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The jury had to decide whether that force was reasonable and necessary.
In putting forward the argument of reasonable force in self-defence, defence counsel Mr Whyms said that Mr Gilligan had been in the dark and under siege and at the end of his tether as a result of vandalism done to a vacant property he was trying to sell.
Concluding the case, the judge reminded the jury and those present of the anonymity and confidentiality in this situation.
The members were excused from jury service for five years and Mr Gilligan, who was described in court as a family man with young children and no previous convictions, walked free.
