Murdered postman Barry Daly adored his children and spoke of growing old with partner, court hears

Barry Daly (44), who was murdered outside his home in Cork last year, was an “exceptional” father and partner who wanted to be surrounded by grandchildren in his old age, a court has heard. The father of five died when he was attacked with a golf club outside Rockview Terrace in Doneraile, Co Cork in the early hours of October 12th, 2025. His jaw was broken into fragments and dislocated, and he was left unable to breathe as blood entered his lungs. In June three men aged 21, 17 and 16 went on trial charged with murder. READ MOREA 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 pleaded guilty to manslaughter towards the end of that trial. The jury failed to reach a verdict in the case of the 17 year old, though he was found guilty at a retrial on Thursday.At the Central Criminal Court in Cork on Friday, a victim impact statement was given by his partner of 20 years, Katie O’Reilly. She said they were “inseparable” and that once they found each other they “never left each other’s side”.“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 [his child’s] first day of preschool. He will miss school achievements, graduations, first cars, first jobs, weddings and grandchildren.”She said one of his children was only three when the murder occurred, and still “runs to the door when it knocks shouting for his daddy”.O’Reilly said 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.”They had talked about “improving the house” and growing old together. “He spoke often about grandchildren and joked that after all boys he deserved some granddaughters too,” she said. A victim impact statement on behalf of the Daly family said that he was a people person who always had a smile on his face, and was particularly kind to old people he met in his work as a postman. His partner’s sister, Claire O’Reilly, said: “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 into the record. Deady said that what had occurred was never his intended outcome and 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 and 16 year old accused also detailed their feelings of deep sadness. The case in relation to the teenagers was adjourned for mention to the Central Criminal Court in Cork next Friday. Deady will be sentenced in Cork on August 31st.