Remembering Rachel

The day Rose Callaly found her daughter Rachel's battered body was only the start of her nightmares. Shortly afterwards Rose became certain that the person who had killed her beautiful daughter was Rachel's husband, Joe O'Reilly. After what seemed like an eternity, O'Reilly was charged. But that was the start of another ordeal - the revelation of just how much he despised his wife and the unfolding of his ingenious plan to kill her, a plan that set Rose up to discover the murder scene. Remembering Rachel is the shocking and heart-breaking story of Rachel Callaly's short life and brutal death. It is also a remarkable account of what it is like to be at the heart of a sensational and tragic murder case. And finally, it is a touching portrait of motherly love and the bond that survives death.

Dubliner Rose Duff fell in love with Jim Callaly when she was 19 and they married five years later, in 1965. Together they adopted five children, with Rose becoming a full time mother and housewife. Rose and Jim became grandparents for the first time in 2000 when their elder daughter Rachel gave birth to her first child. The unimaginable tragedy of Rachel's murder in October 2004, led Rose to write this account of her daughter's life and death and its aftermath. Though at times it was an agonizing process, Rose was determined to create this testimony and a tribute to Rachel's memory.