Tragic deaths of three local young men

THREE storms shook West Cork last week, but the deaths of three young men in tragic circumstances shook it even more.

On Thursday morning, staff and students at St Brogan’s College in Bandon woke to the heartache of the untimely death of 15-year-old Rían de Brún.

On Sunday morning – just after midnight – news came through of the death of Jack Cummins from Nohoval in a single-car collision at Belgooly.

And, before the day was out, there was more devastating news when, at 3pm, Eoin McCarthy (22) from Dunmanway was involved in a collision during a rally in Killarney which claimed his life.

On Wednesday evening an appeal for help in trying to locate the whereabouts of young Rían de Brún went out, but by morning the worst had been confirmed.

Helen Cadogan, the principal at St Brogan’s College described Rían’s death as ‘a terrible tragedy for his family, our school and our community. We are all deeply saddened. Our sympathy and thoughts are with the de Brún family and friends.’

‘Rían,’ she said, ‘was a third-year student in the school and will be greatly missed by all who knew him. Offers of support have been pouring in and are greatly appreciated.’

She also confirmed that the school had implemented its critical incident management plan for the ease and comfort of its students.

On a bitterly cold Sunday morning, gardaí and emergency services responded to a call about a collision at Belgooly. Jack Cummins, the 19-year-old driver involved in the single vehicle collision, was pronounced dead at the scene.

Cllr Alan Coleman (Ind) said Jack was well known in the parish. ‘He had a wide circle of friends in Nohoval and Belgooly and was, despite his young age, known to be a likeable, enterprising, and very hard-working young man who did carpentry and welding jobs.

‘He was an all-rounder,’ said Cllr Coleman, ‘he would turn his hand to anything and we all sympathise with his family on their very great loss.’

The death of Eoin McCarthy of Kildee, Dunmanway, doing a sport he loved so much, has caused a similar outpouring of grief.

His untimely death followed a single-vehicle collision – at around 3pm on Sunday afternoon – when the car he was driving went off the road during the Killarney Forestry Rally.