Woman stabbed outside her home brought 'goodness and beauty to this world', funeral hears
Olivia Kelleher
A 59-year-old woman who died after she was attacked by a man armed with a knife near her home in Ballinlough in Cork city earlier this month brought “goodness and beauty to this world” and was a “joy to be around,” her funeral mass has heard.
Family, friends, and members of the local community gathered at Our Lady of Lourdes Church in Ballinlough on Tuesday at 11am for the funeral mass of Stella Gallagher.
Her husband Brian was also seriously injured in the stabbing incident in Shrewsbury Downs on November 17th last. The 63-year-old was transferred to Cork University Hospital where he underwent emergency surgery.
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 on November 17th last.
David Gallagher (25) was remanded in custody following his court appearance last Wednesday. He will appear before Cork District Court again by video link on Wednesday.
Brian Gallagher was in attendance at the mass along with the couple’s adult children Ciara, Conor, and Mark. A picture of a smiling Stella had been placed on the coffin by her loved ones.
Poignantly, Brian Gallagher was among the pallbearers who carried the coffin out of the church at the conclusion of the service for burial at St Michael’s cemetery in nearby Blackrock.
Alan Gallagher, a brother in law of the late Stella Gallagher said a few words on behalf of his brother, Brian, during the moving requiem mass.
Mr Gallagher said Stella had 30 wonderful years of life with her family.
“When I asked them what some of their good memories of Stella were, they looked back at me and said they were all good. She was a joy to be around and great fun. She was game for anything and would go anywhere and have a good time.
"And in her presence, you would too, even the cat would make a beeline for her, no matter who else was in the room, and jump up on her lap and start purring.”
Mr Gallagher emphasised that Stella loved meeting people and chatting with them.
“Whether her many relatives, cousins and second cousins, or someone she had just met. She loved going on outings with people, whether for a hike in the country or to a film or on a shopping trip.
"As well as Stella's ability to enjoy whoever she was with and wherever she was, she had an inbuilt generosity and was always doing things for others or giving them things.
"If you mentioned in passing you liked something, the next time you saw her, she'd have bought them for you, or baked them for you, or whatever. It was the same when Stella was cooking food. When cooking for two people, she took enough for six. If you mentioned you had to go into town later, she'd get her car keys and offer to drop you in.”
Mr Gallagher also recalled the activities that made Stella “really light up with joy.”
“She loved singing, gardening and baking. At home, she'd sit in a room with her headphones on, filling the house with song, practicing for the Shep choir, and she'd be in great form when she got back from an event with them.
"Stella was an excellent baker and got pleasure from giving you scones or sourdough bread or apple tarts or whatever she just baked. She'd come in after losing track of time and spending hours in her garden.
"Delighted to be able to present you with her harvest of black currants or potatoes or beetroot or whatever was in season, Stella seemed to know the name of every flower and every tree, and on a recent visit to JFK Arboretum in Wexford, she was like a child in a sweet shop.
"We are so grateful to have shared our lives with this lovely person. We love you, Stella, and we always will.”
Mr Gallagher closed his eulogy with a few lines by American short story writer, Raymond Carver.
“And did you get what you wanted from this life, even so? I did. And what did you want? To call myself Beloved, to feel myself beloved on the earth.”
Meanwhile, Monsignor Gearóid Dullea, co parish priest in Ballinlough, told mourners that the death of Stella had left her loved ones “broken hearted” and “bewildered.”
He stated that her “shocking death” had brought a “great pall of sadness” not only over the Gallagher and Griffin families but also on the wider community.
“Stella’s colleagues from her work in Eli Lilly, the local communities in Ballinlough and Ballinspittle, her friends and the Togher Community Garden and her fellow singers in the SHEP choir. Stella’s death has shocked us, stunned us and shaken us.
"Stella was deeply loved as wife, as mother, as sister, as daughter-in-law, as sister-in-law, as aunt, as cousin, as friend. She was a positive person, often humming a song, with a quiet religious faith.
"In fact her family mentioned that a recent book she dipped into was about Saint Teresa, one of the greatest saints to teach us how to trust in God implicitly, even when there is darkness all around us, a bit like a small child putting its hand into its parent’s hand for strength, for guidance, for reassurance, for safety and for love.”
Offertory gifts included apples representing Stella’s love of gardening, sourdough signifying her enjoyment of baking, sheet music arising of her fondness for music and a gift box symbolising her generous and giving nature.
Monsignor Dullea celebrated the mass alongside Fr Gerard Dunne and Rev Alan Marley, both of whom were representing University College Cork. An Taoiseach, Micheál Martin TD, was represented by his Aide de Camp, Commandant Joe Glennon.
Stella’s late parents Paddy and Noreen Griffin were prayed for during the Prayers of the Faithful. Singing was lead by Caroline Fraher. SHEP Singers, of which Stella was a founding member, also performed during the requiem mass.
Stella Gallagher, nee Griffin, was a native of Ballinspittle, Co Cork who worked for many years in Eli Lilly in Cork.
In addition to her work as a chemical engineer Stella had a very active life in the community. She held in high esteem at the Togher Community Garden which is a volunteer led not for profit community garden on the southside of Cork city.
She was a talented gardener and had a great gift for making people feel at ease.
In addition to her husband and children Stella 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 nieces, extended family and friends.
