'Gentle lady' who was fatally stabbed in Cork to be laid to rest next week

Olivia Kelleher

The funeral will take place next week of a “dearly loved” wife and mother who was attacked by a man armed with a knife close to her home in Shrewsbury Downs in Ballinlough in Cork city last Monday night.

Stella Gallagher (59) died in Cork University Hospital in the aftermath of the stabbing incident in which her husband Brian was also seriously injured.

Mrs Gallagher was a retired chemical engineer. She was known under her maiden name of Griffin at her workplace, Eli Lilly. Her death notice reads that Mrs Gallagher is survived by her husband Brian and her children Ciara, Conor and Mark.

She is also “sadly missed” by her brother Denis, parents-in-law Val and Geraldine, brothers-in-law Alan and Mark, sisters in law Erika, Ann, Michele and Mary, nephews and nieces, extended family and friends.

The “much loved mother,” who is a native of Ballinspittle, Co Cork, will lie in repose at the Temple Hill Funeral Home in Boreenmanna Road in Cork from 5pm to 6pm next Monday.

Her requiem mass will take place on Tuesday at 11am in the Church of Our Lady of Lourdes in Ballinlough. The mass will be live-streamed. Burial will follow at St Michael’s Cemetery in Blackrock in Cork city.

One mourner in the condolences section of Rip.ie described the late Stella Gallagher as a “gentle lady with a ready smile” whilst another said that she was a “wonderful person.”

The National Women’s Council of Ireland has also offered its “deepest sympathies” to the loved ones of Mrs Gallagher. In a statement on social media the council said “that their thoughts are especially with her husband Brian who was also seriously injured and remains in a stable condition in hospital.”

Meanwhile, David Gallagher, with an address at Shrewsbury Downs in Ballinlough in Cork, has been charged with the murder of his mother, and with assault causing harm to his father, close to the family home in Ballinlough last Monday night.

Mr Gallagher (25) was remanded in custody following his court appearance on Wednesday. He will appear before Cork District Court again by video link on November 26th next.