ROSE Callaly's memoir of the murder of her daughter Rachel O'Reilly sold just over 1,200 copies in its first week, according to official figures.

Although the number may be considered low for one of the country's most high-profile books this year, sales are likely to increase substantially following Callaly's appearance on The Late Late Show last weekend.

The book – Remembering Rachel – tells the story of the mother-of-two's murder at the hands of her husband Joe O'Reilly.

The crime, its subsequent investigation and court case in the summer of 2007 formed one of the most sensational stories of the decade.

Rose Callaly, who famously appeared on The Late Late Show alongside her daughter's killer shortly after the murder, launched her book on 19 November. It debuted at No 3 in the book charts.

According to Neilson Book Data, the official compilers of sales, the book sold 1,228 copies in its first week of sales.

"In Ireland that is very good and would put it very high up in the weekly chart," a spokesman said.

However, the book's publisher Penguin Ireland disputed that figure, claiming it only related to the first three days of sales. A spokeswoman said the publisher was very happy with the book's sales.

She said she was confident sales would increase following Callaly's appearance on The Late Late Show.

The book has been heavily publicised through radio and television interviews and extracts were published in a national newspaper. It is also likely to benefit from sales in the run-up to Christmas.

By last Sunday, Callaly's book had entered the Easons' top 10 list at No 4 which was considered very high given it outsold various fiction titles by high-profile authors such as Dan Brown and Patricia Scanlan.