The daughter of tragic Celine Cawley reveals how she stood up to her killer father during the trial

The daughter of murderer Eamonn Lillis, who was convicted of his wife's manslaughter in 2008, has revealed how she stood up to him during the trial.

Georgia, now 31, was just 16 when her beloved mother Celine Cawley, 46, was killed in the family home in Howth on December 15, 2008.

In February 2010, a jury sentenced him to six years and eleven months in prison. He served five years and two months and was released in April 2015.

In a new RTE radio documentary, Georgia revealed that she had to live with her father during the trial and the situation was “appalling”.

“I remember he got really mad and kicked over a dog water bowl or something, and I thought, 'Oh, that's how my mom died.' He was resisting me. But I'm probably the same size or bigger than my dad, so I resisted too,” she said. “And I said to him, 'Go for it,' you taught me to box as a kid, and I thought, 'Okay, that's why it happened,'” she said.

Georgia, who owns a therapeutic riding centre in Skerries, County Dublin, has had no contact with her father since his imprisonment in February 2010. She says she never wants to see or hear from him again.

Georgia said she considered herself an “orphan” after the horrific events surrounding her mother’s death on December 15, 2008.

“For me, my father also died on December 15, 2008, because the person he was after was completely different.

She also talked about her last contact with her father. “He left 50 euros on the table and went to prison,” she said.

Lillis was involved in a lengthy legal battle with his wife and daughter's family over the sale of the family home in Howth and the television production company the couple ran.

In the RTE documentary Heart and Soul Horses, Georgia said she “might have been able to forgive” her father if he had been “honest” with her.

Lilis had originally told police that his wife had been attacked by an intruder in the back garden of their home. He claimed he had disturbed the man who was attacking his wife and was knocked down in the struggle. Lillis had even given officers the name of a local man who he said was the attacker.

However, the Gardaí suspected Lillis from the beginning of the case and eventually found a suitcase containing blood-stained clothing in the attic.

Only on the first day of the three-week trial did he admit that there had been no intruder.

“I was always raised to tell the truth, and no matter what it is, no matter how hard the truth is, just tell the damn truth. So if he had said to me, 'Listen, Georgia, hypothetically, your mom and I had a fight. It escalated. I did this. It was wrong. I fully admit it. You know, I'm sorry.'” Then I might have seen a way to forgive him because I'm a forgiving person.

“But it was the fact that he thought he could stage this lie and get away with it. So to speak, and then go on with his life as if nothing had happened.”