Cork mother (31) died from stab wound, inquest hears

Olivia Kelleher

A 31-year-old mother of two suffered haemorrhage and shock after she sustained a stab wound to the thorax, an inquest has heard.

Cork Coroner’s Court briefly opened the inquest into the death of Paula Canty, who was a native of Kinsale in the county.

Ms Canty was found dead on January 3rd, 2025, at her home in Bridewell Lane, Mallow, Co Cork. She died just three days before her 32nd birthday.

Joseph Butler (42) of the Belfry in Mallow was subsequently charged with her murder contrary to common law.

Dr Margaret Bolster, who carried out a postmortem on the deceased in the morgue in Cork city on January 4th, gave evidence at Mallow courthouse that the death resulted from a stabbing incident.

Dr Bolster indicated that the death occurred arising from a stabbing incident. Inspector Paul Aherne told Coroner for County Cork, Frank O’Connell, that Ms Canty was pronounced dead by a doctor at a property in Mallow at 1.45pm on January.

He indicated that a man has been sent forward for trial at the Central Criminal Court, having been charged in connection with the death of Ms Canty.

Inspector Aherne applied for an adjournment of the inquest following the serving of the book of evidence on the accused. Mr O’Connell said that following the commencement of legal proceedings, he planned to adjourn the inquest for an indefinite period.

“I am adjourning the inquest ‘sine die.’ There will be no decision now. We will revisit the situation (when proceedings end).”

Meanwhile, Paula Canty is survived by her mother Sinead, her daughters Alyisha and Aoibhe and her five siblings Darragh, Donna, Latoya, David and Rianna.

Mourners at her funeral in St John the Baptist Church in Kinsale, Co Cork on January 11th last heard that Paula was creative with a “kind heart” and had a “soft, pleasant nature.”

In her death notice, mourners were asked to donate to Street Angels, a homeless outreach group in Cork, and to the drug and alcohol treatment centre Coolmine, instead of flowers. Her mother, Sinead, also raised thousands of euro for Street Angels following an online appeal.