Valerie to be buried in West Cork

A Cork bishop has appealed for people to give the family of Cork native Valerie French Kilroy “space and time” following her murder over the weekend.

Valerie’s body was discovered last Friday in her Kilbree Lower home in Westport where she lived with her husband and three children. 

Her husband has since appeared before a special sitting of the Castlebar District Court charged with her murder. 

Valerie will be laid to rest on Thursday with a service in St Fachtna’s Church of Ireland Cathedral, Rosscarbery and burial afterwards in the adjoining cemetery. Her death notices describe her as being “forever loved and missed by her heartbroken families”.

The Right Reverend Dr Paul Colton, Church of Ireland Bishop of Cork, Cloyne and Ross said: “Together with her family, and all the community in county Cork and further afield, I am shocked by the tragic death of Valerie French Kilroy. Valerie grew up and went to school in this diocese. Her family are very well known to us all, including to me personally. This is a time of immense trauma for everyone.”

He continued: “The local clergy here, and I myself, are doing our best to stand alongside and support the family at this time, as also have the bishop and clergy in county Mayo. I have no doubt that what they need, most of all for the moment, is time to be together and to make arrangements, without intrusion, for Valerie’s funeral. I would appeal to everyone to give them space and time, as well as privacy to do this.

“My own thoughts and prayers at this time are with everyone who is caught up in or who has been affected by this terrible tragedy.”

A post mortem examination was completed Saturday afternoon at Mayo University Hospital, Castlebar by the Acting State Pathologist Dr Linda Mulligan. However the results are not being released at this stage, gardaí have said, for operational reasons.