Witness who was punched in mouth tells Cork murder trial: 'It was definitely purposeful'

The girlfriend of a young man on trial for murder in Doneraile said the deceased man punched her in the mouth that night and added: “It was most definitely purposeful.”

When the murder trial opened last week the jury was told that there was some disagreement between witnesses as to whether the punch was deliberate or accidental.

Today, on what was the third day of evidence in the Doneraile murder trial, Rachel O’Kelly was in the witness box at the Central Criminal Court sitting in Cork.

She said she is the girlfriend of 20-year-old Alex Deady of Glenview, Convent Road, Doneraile. He and two juveniles, aged 16 and 17, who cannot be named for legal reasons, are on trial charged with murdering 44-year-old postman, Barry Daly at Rockview Terrace in Doneraile on October 12 2025.

Alex Deady and the 17-year-old pleaded not guilty to murder, but guilty to manslaughter. The 16-year-old simply pleaded not guilty to murder.

The ages relate to the date of the incident.

Ms O’Kelly said she came out of Eily’s bar on Main Street at closing time and might have been in conversation with people for a short time outside the pub.

She said she was bopping around and there was someone playing guitar on a night when the town celebrated victory for the local team in the Junior B hurling final.

But, she added: “There was definitely people that were angry, I don’t know about fighting. This was just outside the pub after I left.”

Tom Creed, senior counsel, for Alex Deady said: “There was a bit of tension in the air.”

Ms O’Kelly said she thought Alex was still in the pub.

Mr Creed said: “You remember looking up and seeing Barry Daly. When you looked and saw Barry Daly, can you let the ladies and gentlemen of the jury know what your impression was?”

Rachel O’Kelly replied: 

“I am five-foot-four. I was definitely looking up at him. His pupils were most certainly dilated. He was looking at me with his mouth open, definitely angry. There was about ten seconds of eye contact. He hit me into the side of the face with his fist.”

Mr Creed said: “It has been said by a number of people that that was an accident (when he was intervening in an altercation)?”

The witness replied: “I was not aware of any altercation I was in the middle of… It was most definitely purposeful.”

Mr Creed clarified: “Purposeful, intentional?” The witness agreed and said that at the time she was bleeding from her gums and that she has had ongoing consultations with specialists about her jaw since.

She said her brother Fionn was headbutted by another person with the deceased, seconds after she was punched. She agreed with Mr Creed’s characterisation of both assaults being “almost like a concerted attack”.

But as to why this might have occurred, she said, “I have no idea.”

Mr Creed suggested that her brother Fionn was incensed by what was happening and that “Alex was equally incensed”.

Ms O’Kelly said: 

“I would say he was angry but more than anything he was shocked.”

She added that Alex did not witness the assault on her.

After the blow to her face, the witness said: “I was shocked. I remember holding my mouth and walking away. I was shocked. It was completely out of the blue. I did not react. I just walked away. I didn’t do anything to provoke him… I was talking to my brother. He was angry I was after being assaulted. He was saying he (the deceased) should be barred from the pub – angry that I was assaulted.”

Later she said she saw Alex walking up the town with “something like a stick” but she added: “I was not conscious of what was going on”.

She saw him and the two teenagers coming down past Centra about 15 minutes later.

“I asked Alex was he OK. He replied he was fine… He was asking me was my face OK… I would say he was calm… I asked Alex what happened. He said, ‘I’ll talk about it in the morning’,” 

Ms O’Kelly said.

Witness Martin Hickey drove in to town to pick up one of his grandsons and he returned to town afterwards in his car, out of curiosity. Barry Daly came over to the window of his car.

“He was going to join the football. He was drinking a pint. He was in good form… He was celebrating. He was hanging in the window with a pint glass… I asked him was he alright for a drive home. He said, he was grand. He stepped back and I see the man no more,” Mr Hickey testified.

The trial continues before Ms Justice Siobhán Lankford and the jury of seven women and five men.