Family of woman killed by partner with mental illness speak out on double tragedy – The Irish Times

irishtimes.com · Feb 22, 2026 · Collected from GDELT

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Maud Coffey’s apartment was always filled with materials for arts and crafts. The 41-year-old regularly made cards for her family members, designed with loud, vibrant colours, stencilled writing and drawings of animals.One card, made for her goddaughter, is now a prized possession, made only a few weeks before she died in January 2023.“You can always tell which cards are Maud’s. They never fit in an envelope,” her older sister Síofra says, smiling at the pile of them on the bench in front of her.The loss of Maud, her sisters say, is a “double tragedy”. Their beloved sister is gone, but her partner Austin Mangan (53), who, in December 2025, was found not guilty of her murder by reason of insanity, has also lost everything. Mangan, who was suffering a relapse of a schizoaffective disorder, had not been taking his psychiatric medicine for three months before he killed his girlfriend of seven years.Speaking publicly to raise awareness of the need to improve mental health services, her four sisters – Breffní, Fainche, Síofra and Iseult – describe their youngest sister with warmth and affection.Growing up, Breffní and Maud shared a room, sleeping in bunk beds. Breffní was the “bossy older sister”, while Maud “was very shy as a kid but very sweet and loved her cuddles and loved animal teddies”.As a child, she loved board games and regularly played with her siblings. Boggle, in particular, was one she and Breffní quickly became good at, according to her eldest sister Iseult.“I would have been more academically inclined but they were obviously lamping it into the Boggle. When I came back to play some board games, I felt like a dud. They were way ahead of me,” she laughs at the memory.Maud Coffey. Photograph: RIP.ie [ Maud Coffey’s family eager to work with HSE to stop others being killed like their sisterOpens in new window ]The family was a loud, rambunctious one. There was always noise, they were always putting on plays and shows but Maud, they say, was far more reserved. As an adult, Maud often chose to spend her time with the children of the family, or in a quieter room, or with stuffed animals. She loved animals, and cats especially, always wanting to have her own.“Thinking back now, I think it was probably very hard for her. It was very noisy and I don’t think she likes noise very much,” Breffní says.“One of the things that has struck me, when you look back at how she’s come through life, is just how resilient she is and her inner strength. Because she went through a lot of adversity.”Maud had learning difficulties that weren’t officially diagnosed until she was an adult. Despite the challenges this posed, “she was always able to bounce back”, Iseult says.School, in particular, was a challenge, but her sisters were always quick to leap to her defence if ever she found herself in trouble.Síofra says: “I remember she was getting a bit of s**t in second or third year and I was in sixth year. And I heard about this and I went over and I just had a few words [with the offender] and a bit of a clip over the ear and that helped. And it helped her make a friend as well.”Maud Coffey's homemade cards. Photograph: Nick Bradshaw In 2014, their mother died. This, the Coffey sisters say, was a very hard time for Maud. The pair were very close, with her sisters describing their mother as a “rock” for Maud. They spoke everyday. Following her death, Maud experienced a psychotic episode in which she “lost touch with reality”. She received treatment and went on medication for a year, Breffní says, but it took a long time before she returned to her normal self.“She was nearly catatonic. It was so sad. It was like she was a living shadow,” she adds.It was at this point she joined an organisation called the Befrienders, a not-for-profit organisation that seeks to support people with mental health difficulties.Austin Mangan The organisation gave her a new lease of life. She went on her first adult holiday with members of her family coming with her, she went to Bundoran twice, she did karaoke, and, most importantly for Maud, she met her partner, Austin Mangan.“She went from being a shadow of herself to the happiest I have ever seen her in herself,” Iseult adds. “She was with people who understood; her peers. She was so happy. It was amazing. It was a lovely juncture in her life.”When Maud told her family about her new boyfriend, all of her sisters were overjoyed. Mangan fit in well with the family and made an effort with the children.“She rang me after their first date. They were lying in Griffith park staring up at the clouds, and I was just so happy for her,” Breffní says.Iseult adds: “He obviously had [mental health] challenges, but he just came across as someone really kind with the kids. He treated them like people and they responded really nicely to that. He’s a lovely man.”In the weeks before her death, Mangan contacted two of Maud’s sisters to let them know he wanted to marry her. He was planning to propose in Dublin Zoo since she loved animals so much.How do they feel towards Mangan now? “Heartbroken”, they say.Maud's love of teddies and favourite chair. Photograph: Nick Bradshaw Síofra says: “I was a bit nervous before the trial about how I was going to feel seeing him. But he just looked absolutely heartbroken. Absolutely destroyed. They had a beautiful relationship and partnership. But it just had this awful, tragic ending.”The sisters recall telling their children about the way in which Maud died. They didn’t want to lie to them, but knew it was a difficult conversation to have.When Breffní told her eldest son – who was 10 or 11 at the time – she explained Austin was unwell and he lost control and hurt Maud.“And he said, well, he must have been unwell, mammy, because he never would have done that otherwise,” Breffní adds.When issuing a statement following the conclusion of the trial in December, the family were asked if they wanted to put in a sentence to say they forgive Mangan.“But it’s like, there’s nothing to forgive. He is not guilty. So we don’t have to forgive him. It wasn’t a choice. This is something that happened to him and he has to live with the consequences of it. I just feel really sad,” Síofra adds.The family met the Health Service Executive (HSE) on Monday, describing it as a very positive engagement in which they felt heard and respected.They are due to meet Minister of State for mental health Mary Butler next week. Their hope, they say, is to see changes enacted following their devastating loss.Maud Coffey and her goddaughter Aisling. Photograph: Nick Bradshaw They’ve set out 10 key points of which they’d like to see lessons learned, including improved notetaking, ensuring a safe handover between services and increased funding for non-acute, community mental health services.Maud had been struggling with her own mental health difficulties and checked herself into hospital in the run-up to Christmas 2022, knowing she was feeling overwhelmed. She discharged herself two days before she died. But her family say they had no idea she had returned home at this point, which they think is something that should change while still respecting patient confidentiality and privacy.But one of the biggest issues they want to see addressed is for health services to know the person, not just their diagnosis.They want to see a more holistic approach taken to the care provided to people with severe and enduring mental illness rather than primarily focusing on pharmacological pathways.Maud Coffey's laminated montage. Photograph: Nick Bradshaw Fainche says she knows first-hand about taking medication. “It’s a lifelong sentence, and they’ve got a very clinical view of the person,” she says.They also voice concern that any time someone dies in tragic circumstances like Maud, it “reinforces the stigma that people with schizophrenia are dangerous”.Breffní says: “Some people with schizophrenia are dangerous when unwell. But only some. And when well, none of them are, or no more than the general population. “But we hear all these gory details. The stigma that people live with every day with psychosis contributes to every time one of these [deaths] happens. We really need to do better.”Their aim, they say, is simple. They’re working with the HSE and the Department of Health with one goal in mind: “We want what happened to Maud to be taken seriously, learned from, and lead to changes that make similar tragedies less likely.”[ Man suffering from relapse of schizoaffective disorder found not guilty of murder by reason of insanityOpens in new window ]