Courts

‘She died in terror for her own life and the lives of her children’: Valerie French Kilroy’s husband jailed

James Kilroy was sentenced to mandatory life imprisonment at a sitting of the Central Criminal Court

Mother of three Valerie French Kilroy was found dead at a house in the Kilbree area, near Westport.
Olivia Kelleher
Eoin Reynolds
Mon Jul 29 2024 - 16:21

The family of occupational therapist Valerie French Kilroy (41) who was brutally murdered by her husband have called for a review of the law to prevent those who kill their partners from having parental rights to their children.

David French says that the life of his “wonderful” sister Valerie was ended in the “cruellest, most violent and terrifying way possible”.

The body of the late mother of three was found at her home in Kilbree Lower, near Islandeady, Co Mayo on June 14th, 2019.

A native of Leap in west Cork, her three boys were under the age of five when she died. Her husband James Kilroy was last week found guilty of her murder after jurors rejected his insanity defence.

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Kilroy (51) was sentenced by Justice Tony Hunt to mandatory life imprisonment at a sitting of the Central Criminal Court in Dublin on Monday afternoon. The cause of death for Valerie was ligature strangulation, combined with blunt force trauma to the head and a stab wound to the neck.

James Kilroy (51), of Kilbree Lower, Westport, Co Mayo, was sentenced to mandatory life imprisonment for the murder of his wife Valerie French Kilroy. Photograph: Conor McKeown

Her brother, David, says that Ireland should follow the lead of the UK where people who have killed their partners are now unable to have parental rights to their surviving children.

“Valerie’s husband killed her brutally yet he retains all his parental rights to her children. This is an absolutely ridiculous situation. Killing a mother is child abuse. Children have to be protected from abusers.”

Valerie’s brother David and three sisters Suzette, Hilary and Veronica also said in a statement that Valerie was the main breadwinner for her family.

“On the last day of her life she took them to school and she organised the insulation of their house. She worked and she ran an Airbnb. One of her last acts was buying groceries for her family,” they said.

The French family added that Valerie was “highly regarded” by her colleagues and clients in Mayo where she worked as a occupational therapist.

Separately in his victim impact to the court David French said that the pain caused to their family following the murder of Valerie was “beyond words.”

“Our sister Valerie is not here any more. She now exists only in our memory.

Mr French said that the murder of Valerie was “violent and prolonged” with multiple assaults and several major injuries.

“She died in terror for her own life and the lives of her children. When I identified my sister’s broken body I saw where he strangled her and stabbed her in the neck,” he said.

Mr French said that they strove to make the funeral of his sister at St Fachtna’s Church of Ireland Cathedral in Rosscarbery, Cork a celebration of her life.

“Her orphaned son lovingly arranged handpicked daisies on his mother’s coffin which obviously had to be closed. Picture a five year old boy wearing his best clothes holding a bunch of flowers and carefully lining them up while a full church stands in silence.

Mr French said two of his nephews were pre-verbal when their mother was murdered.

“But one when he learned to speak said “I miss Mummy” after seeing a photograph. It was one of his earliest sentences and clearly deeply felt,” he said.

He said that Valerie planned for her boys to find their own way in the world.

“She made a happy nest for them. She was so excited to see them growing up and took delight in every move they made,” he added.

Mr French said that ever since Valerie’s murder, her killer has attempted to control the narrative, to minimise it completely and avoid accountability.

“To date no remorse in any form whatsoever has ever been shown to us. Without real remorse there is no rehabilitation,” he said.

“There is an utterly terrifying black hole of silence where my sister Valerie used to be,” he added.

The French family have thanked the garda teams in Westport and Castlebar who ran a “text book investigation,” the DPP and Courts Service, barristers who worked on the case, jurors and witness Walter Moran who travelled to Dublin from Mayo three times after the previous two cases collapsed due to unforeseen circumstances.