Families devastated
Communities unite in grief after shock of recent deaths
TWO nearby communities were united in grief last week as news broke of two tragic and untimely deaths on the same day. In Boolavogue, the local community rallied in support of the Lawless family following the passing of 31-yearold Laura Lawless. The mother of one tragically passed away having fallen ill at a bookmakers office in Gorey town centre.
A short distance away in the Ballagh, the family of 56-year-old father and grandfather Patrick ‘Paddy’ Stamp were trying to come to terms with the devastating news of his sudden and tragic passing after his body was discovered at his home at Ballymotey. A native of The Ballagh, the father of five was a familiar face to many who frequented the area.
Both tragedies came just two days after a 40-year-old man died in tragic circumstances after suffering a gunshot wound in his car outside Enniscorthy Garda Station, creating a horrific trio from which the greater district is still reeling.
A sense of shock pervaded the close-knit community of Boolavogue last week as news broke of the sudden passing of a young mother of one. Laura Lawless (31) of Tobergal, Boolavogue, was found unconscious in a bookmakers in Gorey town on Wednesday of last week.
A garda spokesperson said that they had received a call from the bookies at around 1.15 p.m. to say a woman had collapsed. ‘When we arrived she was in an unresponsive state and we called emergency services,’ they said. ‘ They performed CPR on her and unfortunately she was pronounced dead at the scene.’ The death is being treated as a personal tragedy.
Following the news, there has been an outpouring of grief on social media with friends and family sharing memories of a great character, and an ‘incredible girl’. One friend described the 31 year-old as a ‘funny, clever, kind and generous person’ who she said consistently amazed people with her generosity.
Laura was said to have been living in Enniscorthy up until the time of her tragic passing and had recently re-entered education, starting a course in the last month. A former student of Gorey Community School and Selskar College, Laura also studied in Gorey Further Education and Training Centre in recent years.
Laura’s heartbroken parents are well-known within the local community of Boolavogue as proprietors of the local shop and post office. Natives of Ballygarrett, they bought the business back in 1996 and it has become the central hub of the village. Sadly, it was to become the site of mourning this week as regular customers and friends of the family offered their sincerest sympathies on the passing of a young woman with her whole life ahead of her.
Hundreds of mourners filled St Cormac’s Church in Boolavogue on Sunday afternoon for Laura’s funeral mass and afterwards she was laid to rest in Ballygarrett Cemetery.
She will be sadly missed by her parents Louise and Alec, son Oisin, siblings Alec, Richard, James and Mary, sisterin-law Jacque, granny, uncles, cousins, her friend Gary, nieces, nephews, relatives and friends.