Funeral of Cork woman found in squat told of mother with ‘heart of gold’

Fond and affectionate tributes were paid this morning to a 22-year-old mother-of-one who was found in a squat in Cork city late last month.

Hundreds of mourners packed the St Finbarr’s South Parish Church in Cork on Monday morning to pay their respects to Amy McCarthy from Greenmount who was found dead on April 30th.

Ms McCarthy’s sister, Hayley, told mourners that “if love could have saved Amy, she would have lived forever” as so many were so fond and caring towards her.

Ms McCarthy said that her sister “had a heart of gold” and said how incredibly proud and happy she was when she had her son Adam and the devotion and care that she showed toward him.

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“One memory that we will always cherish is Adam’s first Christmas - Amy had all Adam’s toys and to see his face on Christmas morning was just incredible - she loved him so much.

“She always had a smile on her face after she had Adam and even though she isn’t here with us, there will always be a part of her that lives on in baby Adam and we will cherish him forever.”

Leading the mourners were Ms McCarthy’s parents, Brian O’Leary and Regina McCarthy and her sisters, Gillian, Jessica and Hayley as well many of her friends from the Greenmount area.

Following requiem mass celebrated by Fr Eoin Whooley of the South Parish, Ms McCarthy's remains were brought to St Oliver's Cemetery in Ballincollig where she was buried.

Gardaí are continuing to investigate the circumstances of Ms McCarthy’s death and while they have not disclosed the results of a post-mortem, they say they are treating her death as suspicious.

Officers were alerted when paramedics were called to a derelict office block on Sheares Street at the back of the Mercy University Hospital and found Ms McCarthy in an upstairs room on April 30th.

They attempted to resuscitate her but were unable to do and she was pronounced dead at the scene.