{"id":147914,"date":"2025-11-19T08:16:10","date_gmt":"2025-11-19T08:16:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/147914\/"},"modified":"2025-11-19T08:16:10","modified_gmt":"2025-11-19T08:16:10","slug":"husband-and-wife-fled-their-home-in-attempt-to-escape-knife-attacker","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/147914\/","title":{"rendered":"Husband and wife fled their home in attempt to escape knife attacker"},"content":{"rendered":"

The woman killed in a stabbing outside her home in Cork City<\/a> had fled her home with her husband just seconds earlier, in a desperate bid to escape their attacker.<\/p>\n

However, 59-year-old Stella Gallagher collapsed on a green area a short distance from the detached home in Shrewsbury Downs in Ballinlough after her attacker caught up with her.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Her 63-year-old husband Brian was stabbed in the driveway of the quiet Cork City suburban home after the incident erupted inside shortly after 9pm on Monday.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Both were stabbed a number of times.<\/p>\n

Whatsapp warning\u00a0<\/p>\n

The disturbance alerted neighbours, with one attempting to go to the aid of the couple. A Whatsapp message was circulated in the neighbourhood warning people to stay indoors and to lock their doors when the nature of the incident became apparent, and the alarm was raised with the emergency services.<\/p>\n

Garda\u00ed, including the armed support unit, and the National Ambulance Service arrived at the scene<\/a>, treating the couple before they were rushed to Cork University Hospital.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\" Garda\u00ed conducting an inch-by-inch search of the green at Shrewsbury Downs in Ballinlough, Cork, following the incident that left 59-year-old Stella Gallagher dead and her husband seriously injured. Picture: Dan Linehan<\/p>\n

However, Stella died at the hospital a short time later. Brian underwent emergency surgery and was in a stable condition at the hospital on Tuesday evening.<\/p>\n

He was being cared for as an autopsy was carried out at the nearby Cork City morgue on his wife\u2019s remains.<\/p>\n

A knife believed to have been used in the attack on the couple has been seized and forensically examined.<\/p>\n

The 25-year-old suspect in the case was arrested at the scene and was still being questioned last night. He was known to the couple.<\/p>\n

Sources said the man has additional needs. He was medically assessed before being questioned about the attack.<\/p>\n

He was detained at the Bridewell Garda Station under Section 4 of the Criminal Justice Act, under which he could be held for up to 24 hours, excluding rest periods.<\/p>\n

The couple worked as chemical engineers.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Brian also held directorships while he and Stella were named in paperwork filed with the Companies Registration Office late last year for the registration of a business name.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The nature of the business was described in the document as \u201ctrusts, funds, and similar financial entities\u201d.<\/p>\n

Neighbours speak of their shock\u00a0<\/p>\n

They were parents to four grown-up children \u2014 three sons and one daughter.<\/p>\n

\"AA Whatsapp message circulated warning people in Shrewsbury Downs, Ballinlough, Cork, to stay indoors and lock their doors when the nature of the incident became apparent. Picture: Larry Cummins<\/p>\n

The Gallaghers have been described as a quiet couple, and their neighbours were stunned by the incident.<\/p>\n

A resident of the estate said he was shocked at what had unfolded in their quiet neighbourhood.<\/p>\n

\u201cI heard shouting last night and saw a man run past,\u201d said one neighbour, who asked not to be named.<\/p>\n

\u201cI locked my doors. I\u2019m still in shock. This is a lovely, quiet neighbourhood.\u201d<\/p>\n

Taoiseach: ‘I live in that neighbourhood’<\/p>\n

In an interview with Newstalk, Taoiseach Michael Martin described the incident as \u201cvery, very sad news for the neighbourhood\u201d.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd I live in that neighbourhood,\u201d said Mr Martin.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\" Garda\u00ed at Shrewsbury Downs, Ballinlough, Cork after the incident erupted shortly after 9pm on Monday. Picture: Dan Linehan<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is totally unexpected and I can only think of the family and friends of the family who have been impacted by this awful incident.\u201d<\/p>\n

The couple\u2019s detached red-brick home was sealed off on Tuesday to facilitate a forensic examination of the house and environs.<\/p>\n

Garda\u00ed examining environs<\/p>\n

A neighbouring property and the green area where Stella collapsed were also examined.<\/p>\n

A ground-floor window was smashed on the neighbouring house with a plant pot shattered below it, its bright red flowers collapsing from chunks of disturbed soil across the otherwise tidy footpath.<\/p>\n

A senior investigating officer has been appointed to head up the investigation and an incident room has been established at Anglesea Street Garda Station.<\/p>\n

A family liaison officer has been assigned to support relatives of the deceased and to inform them of any developments in the case.<\/p>\n

Garda\u00ed are appealing for witnesses, particularly anyone who was in the Shrewsbury Downs area between 8.30pm and 9.30pm on Monday, including anyone who may have home security or dashcam footage.<\/p>\n

Second violent death this week<\/p>\n

It is the second violent death to occur in Cork this week.<\/p>\n

In an unrelated incident in the early hours of Sunday, 38-year-old Mark O\u2019Connell from Fairfield Green in Farranree died<\/a> after an incident outside a house in Hollyville estate in Hollyhill.<\/p>\n

\"MarkMark O’Connell from Fairfield Green in Farranree died after an incident outside a house in Hollyhill, Cork. Picture: Facebook<\/p>\n

A man questioned about that incident was released without charge on Monday<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Garda\u00ed are appealing for witnesses, particularly anyone who was in the vicinity of Hollyville, Hollyhill, Cork City, between 3.30am and 4.30am on Sunday morning, November 16.<\/p>\n

Anyone with video from the area at that time\u00a0\u2014 including dashcam or home security footage \u2014 is asked to make it available to investigating garda\u00ed.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Anyone with any information is asked to contact Gurranabraher Garda Station on 021 4946200, the Garda Confidential Line on 1800 666111, or any garda station.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The woman killed in a stabbing outside her home in Cork City had fled her home with her…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":147915,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[79,1115,7782,42,43,40,38,41,39],"class_list":{"0":"post-147914","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-headlines","8":"tag-cork-news","9":"tag-crime","10":"tag-gardai","11":"tag-headlines","12":"tag-news","13":"tag-top-news","14":"tag-top-stories","15":"tag-topnews","16":"tag-topstories"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/147914","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=147914"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/147914\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/147915"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=147914"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=147914"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=147914"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}