A garda who talked to an armed man who had killed his wife for seven hours until he gave himself up, has been awarded €25,000 by the High Court in compensation against the State.

Garda Thomas Fay went to the Square Bar in Bailieborough in Co Cavan on the evening of 5 September 2013, after being told that Oliver Kierans was suspected of killing his estranged wife and was in the pub with a shotgun.

Garda Fay had known Kierans for almost 30 years.

Talks lasted from 7pm that evening until 4am the following morning. The court heard that during the night Kierans had pointed his shotgun at Garda Fay and pulled the trigger but it had not gone off.

Kierans eventually walked out with Garda Fay.

The body of Patricia Kierans was found in a room at the couple's former home in Bailieborough. She had been shot in the chest.

Kierans was tried for the murder of his wife in 2015. He was found not guilty of murder but guilty of manslaughter and of possession of a firearm with intent to endanger life and jailed for 12 years.

Garda Fay, 60, and also from Bailieborough, told Mr Justice Michael Twomey in the High Court that he had gone into the basement of the pub, where he found Kierans sitting on a bench.

He had a double-barrelled shotgun and appeared to be in a distressed state.

He said by 4am, he finally came out the door and admitted he had killed his wife.

Garda Fay said he had not taken any time off work between this incident and the murder trial. But he said it was the constant replaying of CCTV footage for the jury at the trial that had eventually got to him.

He said he sought medical attention and received medication and counselling. The court heard he had been found to be suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder.

Mr Justice Twomey described him as very honest and understated in his evidence and awarded him €25,000.