Some 50 people gathered at Cork Penny Dinners on Sunday afternoon for a Mass to remember Bruna Fonseca, who died in violent circumstances in the city centre on New Year’s Day.

Ms Fonseca, 28, a native of Formiga in Brazil’s Minas Gerais province, had moved to Cork last September.

A qualified librarian, she had been working as a contract cleaner at the Mercy University Hospital (MUH).

Ms Fonseca had been socialising with friends in Cork on New Year’s Eve and was found dead at a flat in Liberty Street at 6.30am the following day.

Miller Pacheco, 29, a Brazilian native, was charged with murder at a special court sitting last Monday evening.

A Mass was celebrated by Father Jack Twomey at the Penny Dinners Craoí na Laoí centre on James Street on Sunday to remember Ms Fonseca.

Caitríona Twomey, Penny Dinners co-ordinator told The Echo that some Penny Dinners volunteers had known Ms Fonseca to say hello to, as her workplace was only around the corner from the charity.

“Fr Jack said a beautiful Mass, and we had prayers of the faithful for Bruna, for her family and for her friends, to let them know that our hearts are with them,” Ms Twomey said.

“We also prayed for Angelica Carmen Gomez Lopes, who had lived in Anne Street and was tragically killed in a car accident in Brazil.” 

Ms Twomey said Ms Fonseca and her family were in the prayers of Penny Dinners volunteers.

Ms Fonseca’s death brought to 254 the number of women who have died in violent circumstances in Ireland since 1996.