Killer Joe O’Reilly can’t go to his father’s funeral
He is refused permission
MURDERER Joe O’Reilly has been refused permission to go to his estranged father’s funeral in Wales tomorrow.
Joe O’Reilly Sr died two weeks ago in Cardiff, south Wales, where he has lived for the past 20 years since separating from his wife, Anne O’Reilly, who lives in Co. Louth.
His son is serving a life sentence for killing his wife, Rachel Callaly, at their home in Naul, north Dublin in October 2004.
Joe O’Reilly Sr previously said his son had ‘cursed us all’. He also blamed the trauma of the murder for a 2009 drinkdriving conviction.
He passed away following a long illness a fortnight ago and had been estranged from his family for many years. He was 75.
The Irish Daily Mail has learned that Joe O’Reilly Jr has been refused permission to attend the funeral from Arbour Hill prison because he is not permitted to leave the jurisdiction.
A source told the Irish Daily Mail that Joe is ‘deeply upset’ that he cannot travel, and would have liked to pay his respects.
The source said: ‘It is difficult for him because he has not seen his father in many years and they were estranged, but he was still his father and he would have liked the chance to say goodbye.
‘He will just have to await details of the funeral from other family members who are expected to travel over. Joe can’t leave the country and he may have got out to the funeral home had his father’s remains been waked in Ireland, but being in Wales makes it more difficult.
‘He can’t go as a result and he is very upset over that.
‘A lot of other prisoners have got to go out to funeral homes to spend a few minutes with their family, but he is not allowed to go,’ the source added.
Mr O’Reilly Sr, who was a former ice cream man, said in interviews in 2009 that he found it ‘hard to forgive, given the situation was still so raw’. He said he did not know what prompted his son to kill his wife, saying ‘as a child he was a normal kid’.
‘He was very quiet and liked football. I can honestly say I never saw him in a fight with anyone or anything like that.’
At the time, he said he was in shock over the murder, saying he was away in Corfu when he heard the news. He said he knew Rachel Callaly and had met her, after she got engaged to his son, when she was in Blackpool for the week.
In 2009, Joe Sr was banned from driving for 18 months and fined £300 (€335) at Cardiff magistrates court in after he was pulled over by traffic police in the city following some ‘wayward driving’.
He admitted his drink-drive shame and told of how a visit to the house in Ireland where his daughter-in-law was murdered, and to her grave, left him overcome with pain and guilt.
He said: ‘There is no excuse for drink-driving, but since the trip to Ireland my life has been a living hell. I kept on seeing images of the grave and that lovely house.
‘I thought I would find the answer in the bottom of a glass – but I was wrong.
‘The feeling of despair, stood in court like my criminal son, was overwhelming. My son Joe has cursed us all, and the hell just goes on.’
Rachel Callaly was beaten to death in her home. Her husband Joe Jr, who was having an affair at the time, was found guilty of her murder in 2007.
Her husband’s murder trial remains one of the most infamous in the history of the State.
O’Reilly has failed in his court appeals to have his conviction overturned.
Overcome with pain and guilt