Mother of woman stabbed to death in Limerick 'never knew daughter was in Ireland' 

Geila Ibram's mother told Romanian television she thought her daughter was in Germany

Geila Ibram was stabbed multiple times in an attack that gardaí described as 'vicious and frenzied'. Picture: Facebook

The mother of a Romanian woman found stabbed to death in Limerick last month said she never even knew her daughter was in Ireland.

The remains of Geila Ibram were discovered by her fiance in Riverdock House apartments on Dock Road on the afternoon of Tuesday, April 4.

The 27-year-old from Romania had only been in the country about three weeks when she was stabbed multiple times in an attack that gardaí described as “vicious and frenzied”.

Following Ms Ibram's death, a man was arrested in Northern Ireland and charged with her murder.

Speaking to Stirile Pro TV in Romania recently, Ms Ibram’s mother, who was not named in the interview, said: “I thought my daughter was in Germany with her mother-in-law.”

Ms Ibram’s brother, who was also not named in the broadcast, said: “A man came into the apartment and stabbed her.

“Her partner was in Ireland with her, and he called my mother and told her that my sister was dead, and we have to bring her back to Romania”.

A vigil for Geila Ibram on Steamboat Quay, Limerick. Picture: Brendan Gleeson

Ms Ibram's brother also said the family did not know she was in Ireland because she had been living in Germany.

“She was getting married; the wedding was going to be in September. She was living and working in Germany with her future husband and his family.” 

The death of the young woman has left four young children in Romania without a mother.

Ms Ibram and the father of her children were divorced and she was due to marry her new partner this year — she has no children with her fiance.

The family told Romanian TV it was Ms Ibram’s husband-to-be who discovered her body and raised the alarm.

Ms Ibram's relatives travelled to Ireland and formally identified her body at the morgue in University Hospital Limerick on April 7.

Ms Ibram’s brother said he understood her attacker presented himself at a hospital for treatment before gardaí identified him on CCTV at the apartment where she died.

Since she died, her family said they were trying to piece together the reasons behind her decision to come to Ireland.

Born into a family of Roma and Turkish descent, Ms Ibram was raised in Tulcea — a city in northern Dobruja in Romania.

On social media, Ms Ibram, who was also known as ‘Melisa’, regularly posted images of herself with her fiance and her family and recently wished her mother a happy birthday.

In one poignant post, just three months before she died, she wrote: “I will work for my dream, no matter the difficulties that will follow!”

Ms Ibram’s partner has expressed his sadness too, posting a TikTok tribute to her in April saying: “I will love you until I get next to you, my beautiful love, you have taken half of me.”