![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/4869027_4_articleinlinemobile_Mark_20O_27Connell_20.jpeg\" "\\"\\"")
<\/p>\nA father-of-three who was stabbed outside a Cork house on Sunday morning was remembered as his children\u2019s biggest cheerleader at his funeral today.<\/p>\n
Mark O\u2019Connell, 38, was a kind and funny man who always had a smile on his face, his daughter Katlyn told around 100 mourners at his Requiem Mass in the Church of the Resurrection in Farranree.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy dad was my biggest supporter,\u201d Katlyn said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhenever I had a match or anything I could hear his voice and it would always make it better. He cheered for me so loudly,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019d tell all his friends how proud he was of me, I\u2019ll never forget that.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
She said she used to chat to her dad for hours and that they danced and sang together, although neither of them were particularly good at it, prompting warm laughter from mourners.<\/p>\n
\u201cNever in a million years did I think I would be up here talking about my dad,\u201d Katlyn said.<\/p>\n
Mr O\u2019Connell would always have a smile on his face when he brought his children to school on Fridays, playing their special Friday song and trying to start their day on a positive note.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\u201cI remember the time we all went ice skating, and my dad was stuck to the fence the whole time. So I told him to hold my hand,” she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe were ice skating and we slipped and he fell with me. He kept slipping trying to get up. I don\u2019t think he ever went ice skating again,\u201d she said to more giggles from the crowd.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy dad was the funniest man that ever came into my life. No matter what I went through he was there for me.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ll forever be grateful for everything he\u2019s done for me,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
To remember her dad\u2019s love of Liverpool football club, Katlyn brought a Liverpool scarf to the altar.<\/p>\n
His son Jake brought a lighter for his dad\u2019s \u2018smokes\u2019. Hairspray was also brought to represent \u201chis love of his hair and himself\u201d, which drew giggles from the crowd.<\/p>\n
But that laughter offered only brief levity during a sombre service.<\/p>\n
Mr O\u2019Connell\u2019s uncle, Father David O\u2019Connell, parish priest in Monkstown, gave the sermon.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe news. The shock. The pain. The questions. The how, the where, the when? The anger. The tears. The waiting for the process to be completed,\u201d Fr O\u2019Connell said.<\/p>\n
He thanked everyone who had been supporting the family at an incredibly difficult time.<\/p>\n
Soft sobs could be heard throughout the service from pews across the large church. Older generations clasped their hands tightly in prayer.<\/p>\n
\n You\u2019ll Never Walk Alone, the Liverpool anthem, played as Mr O\u2019Connell\u2019s coffin was carried from the church before being brought to his final resting place at St Catherine\u2019s Cemetery in Kilcully.<\/p>\n
![\"Guards](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/4869030_4_articleinlinemobile_25-1.jpeg\" "\\"Guards")
Guards outside the property in Hollyville, Hollyhill which was last night the scene of a fatal stabbing. Picture: Chani Anderson<\/p>\n
Mr O\u2019Connell suffered multiple stab wounds in the driveway of a house in Hollyville, Hollyhill, in Cork city early on Sunday morning.<\/p>\n
He arrived at the house and got into an altercation with a man known to him, it is understood.<\/p>\n
He was stabbed in the chest and shoulder area, it is understood.<\/p>\n
Although emergency services attended the scene and Mr O\u2019Connell was rushed to hospital, he was later pronounced dead.<\/p>\n
An autopsy by Assistant State Pathologist Dr Margot Bolster found that Mr O\u2019Connell died a violent death.<\/p>\n
A 55-year-old man was arrested at the scene.<\/p>\n
He was detained under Section 4 of the Criminal Justice Act 1984, but was released without charge on Monday night.<\/p>\n
Garda\u00ed will prepare a file for the Director of Public Prosecutions.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A father-of-three who was stabbed outside a Cork house on Sunday morning was remembered as his children\u2019s biggest…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":152225,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[79,42,43,40,38,41,39],"class_list":{"0":"post-152224","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-headlines","8":"tag-cork-news","9":"tag-headlines","10":"tag-news","11":"tag-top-news","12":"tag-top-stories","13":"tag-topnews","14":"tag-topstories"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/152224","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=152224"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/152224\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/152225"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=152224"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=152224"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=152224"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}