A 44-year-old man who was murdered outside his home was an “exceptional” father and partner who wanted to be surrounded by grandchildren in his old age, a court has heard.
Father-of-five Barry Daly died after he was attacked with a golf club outside Rockview Terrace in Doneraile, Co Cork, in the early hours of 12 October 2025.
In June three people aged 21, 17, and 16 went on trial charged with the murder of Daly.
A jury at the Central Criminal Court in Cork convicted 21-year-old Alex Deady of Glenview, Convent Road in Doneraile, of the murder.
The 16-year-old boy pleaded guilty to manslaughter towards the end of that trial. His plea was accepted by the DPP.
The jury failed to reach a verdict in the case of the 17-year-old teenage boy. However, he was found guilty of murder yesterday following a retrial.
Today at the Central Criminal Court sitting in Cork, a victim impact statement was made by Barry Daly’s partner of 20 years Katie O’Reilly.
Ms O’Reilly said that she and Mr Daly were “inseparable” and that once they found each other they “never left each other’s side”.
Ms O’Reilly said that Father’s Day now means bringing their children to their father’s grave with balloons.
“No child should ever have to spend Father’s Day standing at a graveyard missing their dad.
“Barry has already missed so much. He missed Bodhi’s first day of preschool. He will miss school achievements, graduations, first cars, first jobs, weddings and grandchildren.
“Bodhi was only three years old (when his father died). He still runs to the door when it knocks shouting for his daddy.”
Ms O’Reilly said that Mr Daly adored his boys and “they adored him right back”.
“He spent countless hours bringing the boys to the GAA pitch, helping with homework and doing school runs.
“Some of our happiest memories were the ordinary evenings at home, sitting down together with sweets and popcorn, watching Disney films with the boys.”
“He spoke often about grandchildren and joked that after all boys he deserved some granddaughters too.”
Ms O’Reilly thanked An Garda Síochána, prosecution barristers Lorcan Staines and Imelda Kelly, the Doneraile community and Support After Homicide for their assistance.
Meanwhile, in a victim impact statement, Barry Daly’s eldest son Ryan said he finds it hard to visit his native Doneraile as the murder of his father has tainted his view of the place he grew up in and used to love.
A victim impact statement was also made on behalf of the wider Daly family. They said that Barry was a real people person who always had a smile on his face.
They stated that Mr Daly was particularly kind to old people he met in the course of his work as a postman.
A victim impact statement was also made by Claire O’Reilly, the sister of Barry Daly’s partner Katie. She said that Daly was “full of life” and loved by all.
She said that the loss of Barry had impacted not only on the family but on the wider community.
“Being a postman was never just a job to Barry. There was one elderly gentleman in particular that Barry always made time for. He would call in for a chat and bring him the newspaper.
“After Barry died, that gentleman told us that he now had nobody left and never felt so alone.”
A letter of apology from Alex Deady to the Daly family was read in to the record.
Deady said that what had occurred was never his intended outcome. He said that he understood that Daly’s children were without a father because of him.
“I think about it daily and will for the rest of my life. I understand ‘sorry’ will never bring Barry Daly back.”
Probation reports from the 17-year-old and 16-year-old accused also detailed their feelings of deep sadness about what had occurred.
The case in relation to the two teenagers has been adjourned for mention in the Central Criminal Court in Cork next Friday. Alex Deady will be sentenced in Cork on 31 August.