The Irish woman who was stabbed to death in a pub in Maspeth last month is set to be remembered with a church service in Elmhurst on Saturday evening.
Sarah McNally, 41, from County Longford in Ireland, will be honored at St. Adalbert’s Roman Catholic Church at 52-29 83rd St. on Apr. 27, a month after she was murdered by her former boyfriend while working as a bartender at the Céilí House.
The service will be a Month’s Mind Mass, a Catholic tradition that commemorates the deceased about 30 days after their passing. The mass will take place at 5 p.m.
Marcin Pieciak, McNally’s 36-year-old former boyfriend, has been charged with murder for allegedly stabbing McNally 19 times at around 6:30 p.m. on Mar. 30. He has also been charged with two counts of criminal possession of a weapon.
Pieciak was arraigned last Friday in Queens Supreme Court on an indictment charging him with McNally’s murder.
Prosecutors say that they have video footage of Pieciak arriving at the Céilí House, located at 69-56 Grand Ave., before approaching McNally, who was working behind the bar at the time.
According to the charges, Pieciak approached McNally and allegedly stabbed her in the neck, back and chest, causing significant wounds and bleeding. He then stabbed himself in the throat several times before a patron detained him until police from the 104th Precinct arrived at the scene, according to the charges.
Pieciak exited the Céilí House brandishing two knives at officers, who were able to disarm him and recover the knives safely.
Both Pieciak and McNally were rushed to nearby Elmhurst Hospital, where McNally was pronounced dead after suffering damage to her carotid artery in the attack.
“The defendant is accused of cruelly and brazenly taking the life of someone he purported to care for and doing so in front of her colleagues and bar patrons,” Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz said in a statement on Friday. “We are grateful to the grand jury for returning these serious charges and we will work to seek justice for Sarah McNally.”
Investigators stated that Pieciak attacked McNally because she was planning on moving home to her native Ireland after living in Queens for ten years. He was remanded into custody by Queens Supreme Court Justice Usher Pandit-Durant until June 18, when he is scheduled to reappear before the court.
McNally was laid to rest at St. Mel’s Cathedral in her native Longford on Apr. 8.
Her best friend Áine Wade told mourners that McNally was “larger than life” and a “force to be reckoned with.”
“Being an only child made her embrace people more, and friends became family, no matter where she went in the world, especially her girls – all with us in spirit, watching in New York, Florida, Miami, Texas, Perth,” Wade said during McNally’s funeral service.
“She treated everyone, regardless of who or what they were, with no judgment, and everyone loved her. She had an extensive group of friends at home and abroad. She was loved and treasured by all of her ‘amigas and amigos,’ as she called us.”
Fr. Michael McGrath, who delivered the funeral service, said McNally’s murder had stopped the local community in its tracks.
“It has caused darkness to descend, especially on her family: her mother Dorrie, father Des, her grandmother Kathleen and her aunts, uncles, relatives and extended family, and the wide circle of friends she has, both here and the far side of the Atlantic,” Fr. McGrath said.
A GoFundMe page has been set up to help pay for the funeral and associated costs for her family. To donate, click here.
