Locals in Mountmellick are shocked at the death of Daragh Conroy (14) in an incident on Tuesday night, writes Kitty Holland in Mountmellick.
People in Mountmellick, Co Laois, watched in shock yesterday as Garda forensic experts examined the area where Daragh Conroy (14) died late on Tuesday night.
A hearse drew up at the banks of the Owenass River shortly after 3.15 p.m. yesterday to remove the boy's remains.
Daragh Conroy had died in an incident late on Tuesday night in Cindeen Hills, a patch of overgrown rocky earth near the river.
Children and their parents stood behind Garda tape watching while forensic experts came and went. Carina Smith (14) said Daragh had been "really quiet, wouldn't know how to hurt a fly".
"I sat beside him in science class in the community school. He was a real good studier, a real kind fella. He was just quiet and didn't bother no one. He was lovely."
Her mother Ms Ann Smith said the town was "in shock". She had been to see Daragh's parents, Patricia and Jack Conroy, yesterday morning.
"They're in bits up there. I don't think they really realise what's after happening. I don't think anyone can believe it," she said. "The whole town is going to be a long time getting over this. You just wouldn't think of something like this happening in Mountmellick. We're such a quiet town, a bit protected and this is a real dose of the outside. It would make you wary. It's not nice at all."
Daragh was a second-year pupil of Mountmellick Community School. He had gone to primary school in the town and was described yesterday as "quiet", "gentle", "a lovely lad" and "he just liked to be with his friends".
Many pupils were reluctant to speak to journalists although some said the atmosphere in the school was one of disbelief. Very little school work was done and all pupils wanted to do was talk about what had happened.
It is understood that Daragh was not at school on Tuesday.
Father Noel Dunphy, a priest in the town, said people were "very shocked and distressed". He said Mountmellick was a "lovely town, a small community of about 4,500 people. I think people will be very saddened for a long time. This is just such a dreadful tragedy".
He said he was called by gardaí at about 12.30 on Wednesday morning. "I called Father McNamara and we decided to go up together to the scene. We gave him last rites. Yes, it was a dreadful scene."
Father Dunphy said he then visited Daragh's mother at her sister's house in the town hours after the death of her only child. "Well she was in shock. What could I say? Words are inadequate in a situation like that. All I could do was be there."
Other neighbours said Ms Conroy had been very close to her son. "She idolised him," said Ms Lorna Holohan. "All the latest gear, she'd get it for him. You used to see them together around the town a lot.
"It's just unbelievable. You expect to hear about this thing in Cork, Limerick or Dublin but not in a little place like Mountmellick. It will affect us all for a long time."