A Kerry man is standing trial accused of sexually assaulting four children.
The man, who is in his 60s, cannot be named to protect the identity of the complainants in the case.
The alleged offending occurred in a rural part of Kerry and another county in Munster, between 1995 and 2005.
The man denies all charges.
The man is not a blood relation of the four complainants, who are now all adults, but he did have frequent access to them at the time of the alleged offending.
The first count relates to an allegation of sexually assaulting a girl when she was between the ages of 12 and 14.
This allegation is that he put one hand inside her underwear while he held her upside down in a playful manner, as she got ready for bed in a night dress.
The man faces an allegation which the prosecution calls remarkably similar, by which it’s claimed he put one hand inside the underwear of another girl, aged between six and eight, while he held her upside down.
The man told the court he would hold the children upside down in this manner from time to time for fun, but denies ever putting his hands in their underwear, or playing with them like this at bed time.
Senior Counsel for the defence, Anthony Sammon, asked the two women how big they were and what they weighed at the ages they allege they were assaulted, claiming the act as described was physically impossible for the man to carry out.
A third female complainant alleges the man put his hand inside her top when she was sat on his lap in a vehicle when she was eight years old, while she claims she also felt what she now knows to be his erect penis.
The man denies this charge, claiming she would not be able to feel his erect penis through jeans, nor that he was aroused in the first place.
A male complainant alleges that the man got into bed with him when he was 15 years old, while he slept in his bed, spooned him, and pushed his erect penis against the boy’s back.
The man admits he got into bed with the boy, while both were in their underwear, but denies spooning him or being sexually aroused.
The defence has claimed that the four complainants made these stories up to gang up on the man, as part of a family dispute; the prosecution says they have no reason to make up any allegations.
