Kilkenny flags still fluttered from the poles around the village of Cuffesgrange yesterday, but there was nothing to celebrate in the small community outside Kilkenny city. Instead it was coping with the knowledge of a violent death in its midst.
Some time between Monday and Wednesday afternoon Mrs Maeve Byrne (37) had been murdered in her home, about two miles outside the village.
Apart from the Garda presence, the Byrnes' neat yellow bungalow at Coolapoge looked as normal as any home. Children's toys sat in a bedroom window. Two shirts hung at another window, while a black and amber ribbon hung from the aerial of the red Escort van parked in front of the house.
A blind was pulled on another window, while a single bouquet of flowers lay at the front door at lunchtime yesterday. Gardai were busy combing the shrubbery in the well-tended garden. A friend of Mrs Byrne said she was too upset to talk about her. `'The only thing I can say is that she was the best mother any two boys could ever ask for," she said as she held her baby.
Another neighbour recalled how Mrs Byrne often gave him a lift into Kilkenny. "She was a grand woman," said Mr Michael Maher. "I only knew her because she often gave me a lift into the town. I saw her on Monday. She passed me on my bicycle," he said.
"I think she was leaving the children in to school. But I noticed that the car was gone on Wednesday morning at about half past eight. She normally wouldn't be gone that early."
Mr Maher said Alan (10) and Shane (6) were often in the car when she gave him a lift and they were "nice little lads". The Byrne family had moved from Kilkenny city about two years ago. Mrs Byrne had done secretarial work for the Field Crest company while Mr Byrne (41) worked at a water treatment plant. Alan and Shane continued to go to school in Kilkenny city.
The couple often socialised in Murphy's pub in the village, according to Mr Liam Murphy who runs the bar. "They were in here on Saturday night at a 40th birthday," he said. "They often met couples of their own age in here.
"They weren't from here but you could say they were part of the local community. She seemed like a lively woman who liked having a laugh," he said. "It's shocking. Now Cuffesgrange is in the news for all the wrong reasons."
Cuffesgrange is typical of many dormitory villages outside cities or big towns. New houses are dotted among the traditional farms and country cottages.
"There are so many new houses around here that it's hard to know who people are any more," one neighbour commented. "If her husband walked down the road I don't think I'd know him. People leave early in the morning and don't get back until the evening, so you wouldn't get to know them."
